A Delicate Balance
by JacksonMW
Summary: Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay. While on a grand tour of Africa, photojournalist Bryan Anderson stumbles upon a small animal sanctuary. There he finds a formidable foe bent on bringing chaos to nature. When this foe threatens the Pridelands, two unlikely species stand against their shared foe in order to bring order to a delicate balance.
1. Chapter 1

_Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay_

\- Sallust, Roman Historian

* * *

Chapter I

A round of turbulence rocked the old metal plane, shaking it's only passenger, a young American known as Bryan Anderson, awake from his nap. He groggily looked about the cramp cabin, wiping his dazed eyes several times. The hum of the planes propellar echoed through the cargo filled plane, drowing out any other noise that was made. Bryan looked down at his feet for his headset and found it lying under a small bag. He shoved the bag aside and picked up the large headset, setting it firmly on his head.

On the side of one of the ear muffs was a small switch which turned on the headset's raido functionalities. Flipping the switch into the on position, Bryan adjusted the headset's large microphone before speaking.

"Pilot," he said, his voice carrying the sound of sleepiness, "what's our ETA?"

The pilot of the small aircraft, who held a thick British accent came over the intercom and responded to Bryan's question.

"It's about twenty kilometers until the landing strip, sir. Might wanna buckle up back there, I'm beginning our descent."

Another round of turbulence rocked the aircraft, prompting Bryan to make sure his seat belt was securely fastened around his slim waist.

 _The sooner we get on the ground, the better. If only Delta reached this far out into the African Savannah,_ Bryan thought as he pushed the microphone away from his mouth.

"What brings you out to Mahali Salama anyhow? It's been a while since I've flown any living passenger, not that I'm complaining. Cargo don't make good conversationalists, if ya know what I mean," the Pilot asked with a laugh at the end.

Bryan chuckled at the quip and said, "Decided I'd spend some time there, maybe help around as well."

"If ya don't mind me asking, but how'd a self respecting American like yourself end up wanting to work on an old animal reservation," the Pilot inquired as he guided the plane closer to the ground.

"Technically I'm not working for them. I'm a freelance photographer just wanting to get a few pretty picture of life on a reservation. I've actually been traveling around Africa for the past few months, compiling all sorts of photos on the culture and life of it's people, but I hadn't looked into the life of the animals. Mahali Salama was willing to let me spend a couple weeks in their facilities to cover the animals they house," Bryan explained as another round of turbulence rocked the cabin.

"Ballsy work right there, being freelance and all. I couldn't handle not knowing if I'd have a job the next day," the Pilot observed.

Bryan nodded his head in understanding and said, "It can get pretty scary sometimes. But it has it's perks. I get to show people the stuff I want to see."

"First you gotta find people who will pay attention," the Pilot laughed.

"That is also very true," Bryan said, laughing along with the Pilot.

The bi-plane was nearing the ground as Bryan and the Pilot finished their conversation. The Pilot turned back to focus on the controls and making sure that the plane didn't end up crashing into the run way.

The term run way could be used lightly for the small air field that was outside of Mahali Salama Animal Sanctuary. It was more like a mowed down strip of grass and weeds that was roughly the length of a normal tarmac landing strip at a much more modern airport. The inches may be lacking in both length and width, but it was landable none the less.

Bryan felt the plane bounce as the wheels touched the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust and debri. The Pilot made sure that all of the flaps were functioning properly as he lightly applied the plane's breaks, slowly bring the plane to a hault.

Once Bryan heard the plane's propellar shut off, he unbuckled himself and stood up in the small cabin, barely reaching his full height of six feet. The Pilot sat up as well, stretching slightly before walking over to the plane's single door and swinging it open, He jumped down into the mowed grass and was followed by Bryan.

From the minute he stepped out of the plane, Bryan felt like he was in another world. Surrounding him was tall grass and baobab trees that dotted the landscape. The intense African sun was beating down on the landscape constantly, giving light to all of the surrounding area. But perhaps the most notable aspect of the landscape was the sound of the animals. It was a constant chatter of cicada's, birds, and other random creatures that remained hidden from the two humans.

The savannah was a truly different part of Africa, one that Bryan was enamored with. It's untouched beauty prompted Bryan to run back into the plane and quickly grab his single piece of luggage, a hiking backpack dirited from months of use. He fumbled with the zipper of it's main compartment as he pulled out his large digital camera. Slinging the backpack around his shoulder, the young photographer brought the camera's viewfinder up to his eye and began to snap pictures of the landscape.

The Pilot, who had been focusing on unloading the several wooden crates of supplies he had been chartered to deliever, looked up from his work and chuckled as he watched Bryan snap hundreds of pictures. The shutter of the camera was flickering constantly, prompting its sound to mix in with the other sounds of the wild animals.

"Oi, Mr. Anderson, you can take plenty o' pictures once you've helped me get all this here cargo to the sanctuary," the Pilot called as he watched Bryan spin around in place with the camera.

Bryan looked up from his marathon of photo taking and smiled sheepishly.

"My bad. It's just, wow! I've never seen such a unqiue landscape before. It just feels so, alive," he said as he slung his camera around his neck and walked over to the Pilot.

"She's a beauty, that's for sure," the Pilot replied before climbing back into the plane to grab another box.

Bryan followed suit, deciding to grab a couple of the duffle bags that were sitting along with the wooden crates and cardboard boxes. He fell into a rythm of unloading, taking several different items out at a time and then placing them in separate piles once they were on the grass.

As he and the Pilot got out the last bit of it, Bryan wiped his brow, brushing past his shaved head and thin eyebrows. Sighing lightly, he noticed a large, tan truck driving in from the east. No doubt it was their welcoming party.

Bryan and the Pilot watched as the truck pulled to a stop a few feet away from their unloaded cargo. The passengers, a pair of burly Kenyan males and a young female, stepped out of the truck and approched the two waiting travelers.

The female was around Bryan's age of twenty-six. Her hair was tied into a bun that was secured by what appeared to be a rubber band. She had brilliant dark skin that seemed to glisten in the sunlight as she walked along with the two men. She smiled as she approached Bryan and the Pilot.

"Greetings to you Chester," she smiled, speaking to the Pilot.

"Mornin' miss," Chester smiled back.

"And to you as well, Mr. Anderson," she said, now speaking to Bryan. "I am Elewa, one of the senior directors of Mahali Salama. These two gentlemen are Fanaka and Hali, two of our animal caretakers and handy men."

Fanaka, the taller of the two men, extended his hand for a hand shake. Bryan shook it, noticing his strong grip and then shook Hali's hand. The two men then walked over to the cargo stacks and began to help Chester load the cargo into the truck.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Elewa," Bryan said, shaking Elewa's hand. "And please, call me Bryan."

"Will do, Bryan. We are honored to have you here with us," Elewa stated.

"Well it's a huge honor for you guys to let me come after such short notice. I'm not even in the sanctuary itself and I've already got some really good photos," Bryan said, taking another quick glance around.

Elewa chuckled and said, "You actually are already on the sanctuary's land."

"Really? I always thought these sanctuaries were like zoos and kept the animals housed in a central location. You guys actually let the animals roam free?" Bryan asked, astonished to hear what Elewa had said.

"Within certain boundaries, of course," she stated. "We have several perimeter fences around our land to keep the animals from getting too far away. The land inside the fence is separated into different zones so we can maintain a more controlled environment for the animals. Our main outpost is located centrally. It houses several holding pens for our animals as well as the employee sleeping areas and main offices."

As soon as Elewa hand begun to discuss the logistics of the sanctuary, Bryan reached into his cargo shorts pockets and pulled out his handy dandy notebook. He eagerly scribbled down what Elewa said so he could compile a lovely story to go along with the multitude of photographs he shall be taking in the coming weeks.

"I hope you don't mind my note taking," he said as he finished up.

"Not at all Bryan," Elewa smiled. "It's nice to see a visitor so eager to learn about what we do here."

Bryan smiled back as he tucked the note pad back into his pocket. He then held up his camera and aimed it at Elewa.

"Picture? I can't complete my story without getting one of the lovely Elewa."

Bryan swore he had seen a hint of blushing under her dark skin as he asked her.

"Absolutely," she replied.

With her consent, Bryan centered the camera's lens on Elewa, framing her upper body against a Baobab tree. As he went to take the photo, he noticed a peculiar figure standing under the shade of the tree. It appeared to be an elderly man wearing only a garb around his waist. The man was carrying a large curved stick with what looked like little charms tied at random places around it.

Bryan focused back onto Elewa and quickly snapped the photo.

"Who's that standing under the tree," he asked as he lowered the camera.

Elewa looked puzzled and turned around to look at the tree. Bryan focues his gaze back on it but was met with a surprising sight. Whoever or whatever the old man was, he was gone.

"I don't see anyone over there," Elewa said, turning back to Bryan. "Don't worry about it. The African heat can play tricks on the unaccustomed mind. Let's go ahead and head back to the compound. I'm sure you're eager to see some of our animals."

Before answering Elewa, Bryan quickly scanned the surrounding area for the peculiar old man. Seeing no trace of him and writing the old man off as a simple illusion, Bryan nodded in reply to Elewa's suggestion.

The young supervisor caught his response and turned around, heading back to the truck, which was nearly loaded with all of the cargo. Bryan took several steps behind her before noticing a lack of any sort of jingling on his side. He quickly patted the left side of his belt and realized his canteen was still in the plane.

"One second Elewa," he called out. "I need to go grab something!"

Elewa nodded as she climbed into the truck's cabin. With haste, Bryan quickly turned around and sprinted back to the plane's door. He climbed back into the cabin and looked around his seat for the rounded canteen. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found it lying under the cushioned seat. With all of his belongings secured, Bryan climbed out of the cabin, turning his back to the door when he jumped down onto the ground.

"Agh! What the hell," Bryan cried as he turned around. His eyes suddenly began to sting and water due to some strange dust or powder that was blown into them. Some of the powder was also caught by his mouth as he spoke, causing him to fall on his knees as he rubbed his eyes and spit the dust out.

" ** _Tangu siku hii mpaka mwisho, asili atazungumza nawe, na wewe kuelewa,"_** a raspy yet soothing voice said as Bryan continued to relieve his face of the powder.

With his vision nearly normal again, Bryan looked up and saw the outline of someone standing above him, their arm raised over his forehead and fingers spread wide. He blinked and rubbed his eyes several more times, and when his vision finally came too, the figure had vanished.

"Okay," he said, wigged out from what just happened. "I definietly need to get out of the heat.

Before returning to Elewa and the truck, he uncapped his canteen and splashed some of the cool water on his face. He also decided to not tell any of the others what just happened. Even if it wasn't real, he didn't want Elewa to think they had just let some crazy journalist who sees people and randomly has dust thrown in his face into their sanctuary.

When he returned back to the truck, Bryan climbed into the passenger side of the truck, siting down next to Elewa. She turned on the ignition, revving the truck a few times before shifting it into gear.

"You okay," she asked, taking a quick glance over to Bryan. "You look as if you had just seen a ghost."

"Oh, I'm fine," he lied. "Still not used to this heat yet."

Elewa chuckled as she turned her focus back to the small dirt road that was etched in the landscape. Bryan, in turn, rested his head on his hand. He gazed out of the truck's rear view mirror, looking back at the plane as it became smaller and smaller.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bryan caught a glimpse of the same old man standing in his original spot. Like the first time, the old man's gaze was dead set on Bryan and Bryan alone. As of right now, Bryan decided to pay what he just saw and had experienced no mind. He turned his gaze to the front of the truck and looked out across the rolling savannah.

* * *

 **Welp, here it is! My first ever Lion King fanfiction! To be honest, I never saw myself as the type of guy to go out and write a story set in The Lion King universe. But the muse works in mysterious ways, and I found myself desiring to delve into it's universe and carve out my own little story.**

 **Just as a forewarning, I don't plan to have any sort of "human transforming into a lion" aspect of the story. I'm still working some things plot wise out, so that may change.**

 **Also, please remember to review, favorite, or follow. It sure does make me happy when you guys do!**

 **Keep on truckin' readers!**

 **JacksonMW**

 _ **DISCLAIMER: The Lion King is not mine! I only own my OC's and the stories over all plot.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

The cool water from the sink splashed across Bryan's face, dripping into the hairs of his finely trimmed beard. He cupped his hands under the running faucet and splashed another handful of water on his face. Reaching off to his left, he grabbed a plain white hand towel and unfolded it before drying his face with it.

When he looked up into the mirror above the sink, he noticed how much his face had changed with only a few weeks roaming Africa. Before he had left America, his skin was a much more pasty white. Now it was a smooth caramel color all around. In terms of hair, Bryan had decided to shave his head upon coming over, getting rid of his usual brown hair, but he has decided to keep whatever facial hair he grew. All of it was within reason, of course. At the end of his African journey, he didn't want to return home looking like a mountain man.

The many days of walking in the hot African sun also left him with a much more physically fit body. Much of the areas in Africa he had visited lacked the fatty foods and lazy lifestyle that dominated much of western culture. Bryan felt like a much healthier human being in only a few months. He couldn't imagine how good he would feel if he spent more than a year in Africa.

Bryan stepped away from the sink and crossed the stained wood floor of his quarters. Elewa had given him some time to settle down and rest before giving him a grand tour of the facilities. Mahali Salama has separate rooms set aside for visitors and other special individuals. The staff of the sanctuary room together in large bunk houses that are separated by sex. The higher ranking officials receive their own quarters along with a personal office.

He walked over to his bed, a simple twin bed with a metal frame, and unzipped his backpack. Before heading out, Bryan always liked to make sure he had everything essential to his survival, just in case the unthinkable could happen to him while away from his place of rest. In his backpack, he made sure to always carry water purifying tablets, a zippo butane lighter, a small piece of flint to start fires, matches, and a satellite phone. On his belt, he made sure he always had a full canteen and his sixteen inch Bowie knife. Bryan has had to use the knife only on a few occasions, but it is still a good thing for him to carry. He also carried fully charged spare batteries for his digital camera in the camera bag that hung from his backpack. The camera bag held a large telescopic lenses that he used to get wider shots from far away and a stand for the camera. Another handy item that he had was a solar powered charger. The mat like device was decorated with hundreds of miniature solar panels. A universal charging cord would allow him to plug in any device and charge while out anywhere in the wild. He also carried a map of the immediate area he was in, so he double checked that he had a map of Mahali Salama and the surrounding area up to twenty-five miles all around.

With all of his gear accounted for, Bryan tucked it all back into his backpack and zipped it up. He slung it over his shoulder and then made for the door. His pair of tan colored, steel toed boots were resting at the side of the door. He made sure to slip those on before pulling the door open and stepping outside.

Stepping outside of his small bunkhouse gave Bryan the same reception that he received when he stepped outside of the air plane. The heat of the sun hit him like a wall as the sound of nature filled his ears. He immediately wanted to stop and take more pictures, but he was on a schedule. Elewa was waiting for him in the dining hall along with the head supervisor of the sanctuary, a Mr. Alexander Roth. Alexander Roth was one of the original founders of Mahali Salama, getting all of the proper licenses and finishing construction in the late 1990's. Bryan had plenty of questions to ask Mr. Roth about the history of the sanctuary. Hopefully the information and pictures he would acquire would catch the attention of a major news source like TIME Magazine or National Geographic. Even if they didn't, his own news site, which he owns and operates with the help of a couple tech savvy friends based in the States, generates a slightly livable income through a Paetron account. People seem to enjoy Bryan's content enough, so he continues to provide it to them.

Bryan crossed the small dust filled yard that contained the bunkhouses. The center of the yard was dominated by a large concrete structure which served as the main administration building and housed the sanctuaries facilities. He reached the main buildings doors, stomping off the dust on his feet on a small welcome matt that was sitting outside the door. With enough of the dust off, he stepped inside of the air conditioned building, continuing his trek down a long, white tiled hallway.

At certain intervals along the hall, small signs were situated on the walls. The signs directed Brian towards the dining hall, however, one of the signs caught his attention. Situated just underneath the sign meant for the dining hall was one for the "Lion Containment Area".

 _A quick peek wouldn't hurt_ , he smiled to himself as he set his course for the Lion Containment Area.

The path to the dining hall and the Lion Containment Area parted ways in front of a large door labeled for the "Mess Hall". Bryan quickly skittered past the thin windows on the metal doors, making sure to not attract any attention to himself. Once past the Mess Hall, Bryan continued to the Containment Area, wondering what he would find.

It was obvious that he would find lion's, but he couldn't help but wonder why a sanctuary would need to have a separate containment area for wild animals. Perhaps the lions in the room are sick. After all, the sanctuary probably performs veterinarian services on the animals so they can keep them healthy.

 _Maybe I could set up a donation fund for Mahali Salama,_ Bryan though as he neared his destination. _Of course, I'll take a small finder's fee of the proceeds. Gotta make a living somehow. PETA is always looking out for animals, but they're a bit too tree-hugging hippie for me. Maybe the World Wildlife Foundation would consider funding a couple more expeditions…_

Bryan's thoughts continued to ramble on as he thought of ways he could continue on his passion of photojournalism, nature, and having a nice, cushy lifestyle. His thoughts stopped in their tracks as soon as he reached a pair of double, windowless metal doors. The sign above the doors made what was behind them obvious: he had reached the Lion Containment Area.

Quietly, Bryan took out his camera and snapped a couple photos of the doors before approaching them. Much to his surprise and joy, the pair of doors was not locked, allowing the snoopy photojournalist to take his "quick peek" unhindered.

With the quietness of a mouse sneaking through a snake den, Bryan slowly opened the doors, not wanting a single creek to echo down the empty hallway. Once inside the room, he quickly turned around and closed the doors behind him with the same level of care he showed upon entering. As an extra measure, he found a dead bolt and slowly turned its knob, barring the doors from opening.

He smiled slyly as he turned back around, taking a slow survey of the room.

Along the wall opposite him were five glass frames. Each seemed to contain a lion which was either sleeping or bathing itself. Slowly, Bryan approached the closest window and looked in on its occupant. The lion was lazily sitting in a corner, gazing at one of the walls. The lion looked much like a normal lion would. It had tan colored fur with a slightly brown mane reaching down its back and belly. The lion seemed like it couldn't see Bryan, so he felt like taking a picture wouldn't disturb the relaxing beast. He slowly lifted his camera up to his eye and quickly snapped a picture. As soon as the shutter clicked, the lion reared its head towards the window and snarled, barring its teeth towards Bryan

"Shit," he said aloud as the lion sat up and slowly approached the window.

As it approached, Bryan was able to get a full view of the lion; the big cat was a BEAST! It was easily twice the size of any lion has seen in a zoo back in the United States. Just standing on its four massive paws, the lion was at eye level with the six foot human. The young human was easily terrified at the size of the beast. He began to back up slowly as the lion stopped only inches in front of the glass mirror and sat down, its eyes fixated upon Bryans.

Bryan turned his eyes towards the lions, their gazes meeting. Immediately, Bryan noticed something strange. In a quick blur, he noticed the big cats black eyes flicker to a bright green color, almost like that of a human. He shook his head slightly, noticing that it happened again in the same split second. Rubbing his eyes for a few seconds, he looked back up to see the lion's eye's now staying the green color. The large creature's head was also tilted, almost as if it was curious.

Normally Bryan has never been able to tell the mood of an animal. In fact, he's never even giving an animal's mood or feeling's much thought, but he noticed that the lion actual seemed curious. He read its face and found himself able to determine this much like he would to an inquisitive human child. Some of the children in a remote African village he visited looked at Bryan in much of the same way like the lion was. The children had never seen a white man before, and it appeared that this lion had noticed something odd in Bryan as well. The lion must obviously be accustomed to the sight of humans, but here it was giving him a strange, curious look.

Bryan continued to stare at the lion for a few more minutes before he pulled out his camera again. It was too good of a picture to pass up, so he aimed the lens at the big cat and snapped a quick picture. Much like the first time, the lion seemed startled at the sound of the shutter, but it did not snarl at him. Instead, it continued to look at the confused journalist, its unusual human-like eyes peering into Bryan's.

The encounter was beginning to creep Bryan out, so he decided to exit the room. He turned away from the one lion that continued to look at him and looked back at the cages as a whole.

"Holy shit," he gasped as he stumbled backwards into a counter.

Not only was the first lion still looking at him, the four other ones in the cages now had their gazes fixed on the lone human. And instead of the normal black eyes, he found completely individual and unique colors for the four other lions. Each of their eyes appeared just as human as the green eyed one, and each of their heads were tilted in the same manner as the green eyed big cat.

"Nope," he said, making a fast walk towards the door. "This is getting to weird for me. By strange kitties."

He threw open the dead bolt and quickly stepped back into the hallway, closing the door and letting out a large huff.

"Mr. Anderson?" a gruff African male asked.

Bryan jumped slightly, still wigged out by what just happened in the room behind him.

"Jesus Fanaka," he gasped. "You startled me."

Fanaka chuckled and said, "Mr. Roth is waiting for you, and I can advise that keeping him waiting is a bad idea."

"Roger," Bryan said. "I was just taking a quick peek in this here room. Not in it, of course, but just through the glass."

He laughed nervously.

"Those are some big cats in there."

"Oh yes, very," Fanaka replied. "They're probably some of the biggest in the world. We haven't called any of those silly world record companies though. We don't want that kind of press. It encourages poachers."

Bryan decided to walk away from the room with Fanaka following beside him.

"How did they get so big," Bryan asked. "They look almost as tall as me."

"If I knew, I would tell you," Fanaka replied. "Those five lions in that room are about two times larger than the other lions we have. It's quite interesting really. Those lions were not born in this sanctuary. Rather, we found them as cubs several years ago. Well, they weren't really cubs, but more like young adults in human terms. Anyways, we found them a few miles outside of our land, nearly starved to death. We took them in, all six of them, and have raised them in captivity since."

"Wait, you just said six," Bryan said, his keen hearing latching on to the factual discrepancy. "And don't try to play it off like you didn't. I'm a reporter, remember? We have very keen hearing and can latch onto trip ups like that just as a leech latches on to your skin."

Fanaka was about to refute the fact that he had said six, but he knew that Bryan wouldn't give up.

The African let out a large sigh.

"There are six," he stated. "Those five are kept away from him. When we found the six young lions, those five didn't put up a fight when we came to their rescue. The sixth one however, was different. That beast has earned the name that our staff knows him by. He is known as Shetani, or "devil" in your tongue."

Bryan was immediately intrigued by this development and whipped out his notebook, but Fanaka quickly snatched the small legal pad out of the American's hand.

"Not here," he said. "If you really want to know more, meet me outside of the barracks after dark."

Fanaka then handed the notebook back to Bryan and walked briskly away, turning down a smaller hallway that led away from the Mess Hall. Bryan stared blankly as he watched the mysterious African walk away.

 _Things are getting interesting,_ Bryan smiled, his investigative reporter inside himself dying to know more.

But for now, he had an interview to conduct with Mr. Roth. Fanaka and the mysterious "Shetani" would have to wait until dark.

* * *

 **THINGS! EXCITEMENT! Looks like things are getting more and more interesting for our intrepid reporter. Do not worry my faithful readers, all will be revealed in time!**

 **Remember to read and review as well! I always love getting feedback from you guys.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-JacksonMW**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III

A loud beeping noise slowly filled Bryan's ears as he rolled over in his bed. He laid there, half awake and half asleep, wondering what the noise could be. It then dawned on him that the loud noise was his watch's alarm. Upon this realization, Bryan threw the thin sheets that covered him up into the air and sprang out of bed.

Earlier that evening, Bryan had learned from Fanaka that there was a sixth lion, one that seemed to be kept hidden from anyone who wasn't an employee of the sanctuary. Oddly enough, this sixth lion was named after the Swahili word for "devil", adding even more mystery to the beast. Needless to say, Bryan was dying to find out more about Shetani, and luckily Fanaka seemed willing to tell the reporter more.

In less than a minute, Bryan was fully clothed and ready to step out into the African night. He made sure to grab his camera and notepad before opening the door to his bunkhouse. A cacophony of animal sounds greeted him as he quickly shut the door behind him and walked across the yard with haste.

Fanaka had instructed the young reporter to meet him outside of the employee barracks, so Bryan headed for the male's barracks. Sure enough, Bryan saw a tall African male sitting below the barrack's single outdoor flood light. The figure noticed Bryan as well and slowly approached the reporter.

"Mr. Anderson?" Fanaka asked.

"In the flesh, Fanaka," Bryan replied. "I'm ready to hear more about Shetani."

Fanaka nodded his head and then began to walk ahead of Bryan, motioning for the young reporter to follow.

"So how did the interview with Mr. Roth go," Fanaka asked as the two walked into the sanctuary's main building.

Bryan shrugged.

"Pretty standard stuff. He introduced himself, gave me a whole spiel about Mahali Salama's history and purpose in Kenya. I asked some basic questions, such as how many animals are in the sanctuary's boundaries and such. I asked how many lions they are currently hosting, and he seemed to forget six of them."

"Mr. Roth doesn't want anyone from the public, especially the press, to know about our six special cases. If word got out we were holding lions of such incredible size, we would be facing an enormous increase in poaching operations. That is why you have to promise me that if I am to continue on with giving you information, you shall never disclose it to anyone. Do you promise me that?"

Upon demanding his word, Fanaka had stopped and grabbed Bryan by the shoulders, his eyes locked with the young reporter.

Slowly nodding, Bryan said, "I swear on my honor as a freelance reporter that I will not disclose any of the secrets you have told me or are about to tell me."

Fanaka gave a definitive nod of approval and then continued onward, his walk leading Bryan to a large metal door locked with a coded key pad. The door lacked any sort of window or handle and almost looked as if it was part of the wall. Without Fanaka leading Bryan, he would have walked right past the secret door.

Before entering in a numerical combination, Fanaka glanced around, making sure that no one was following him or Bryan. The African then quickly entered in the code, making sure it was fast enough so that Bryan would not be able to memorize the combination of numbers.

Upon receiving the code, the door receded into the wall. Fanaka then pushed the door open, revealing a completely dark room beyond it. He stepped inside, his hand running over the adjacent wall until he found the light switch. A dim white overhead light flickered on, illuminating the room.

Bryan followed behind Fanaka, stepping into the now lit secret room. Once Bryan was beyond the door, Fanaka closed it behind them, the two humans now locked in the vacant room. The room did not match the crisp, almost sterile appearance of the other holding pen Bryan had been in. It was a solid concrete room with nothing but two metal chairs and a small desk. The chairs and desk were sitting in front of what appeared to be a completely black mirror that occupied much of the wall parallel to the secret door Bryan and Fanaka had come through.

"Is this it," Bryan said, a little disappointed that a completely secret door led to just a concrete room with a black mirror.

"Look closely," Fanaka said. "Do you see anything in the darkness?"

Bryan followed Fanaka's instructions and leaned in closer to the mirror, looking for anything that he could pick out in the dark. It was then that Bryan noticed two faint red dots staring at him through the darkness.

"I see two red dots," Bryan said. "They look almost like eyes."

Upon hearing what Bryan had saw, Fanaka walked over to the wall to his right and turned on another switch. Slowly, the darkness beyond the mirror became illuminated as a series of overhead lights began to turn on. As more of the lights turned on, the figure around the red eyes became more and more clear. Its dark outline soon began to take the shape of a lion sitting in the corner, its gaze fixated on the two humans beyond the glass mirror.

"Dear god," Bryan said aloud as soon as the room beyond the mirror was completely illuminated.

Sitting in a corner of the bare concrete room was a massive lion. The creature was unlike Bryan had ever seen. Its fur was a solid jet black, giving it the appearance of an oversized panther. It had a long black mane that seemed to be slicked back from its face, giving an unhindered view into its sinister red eyes. The mane extended far down the lion's belly, ending around its pelvic region. By far the most disturbing aspect of the black lion was its eyes. The creature's entire eye was a solid red color. There was no sign of any pupil or iris, only a solid red sclera.

After looking over the lions physical features, Bryan noticed something odd in its demeanor. Just from looking at its face, Bryan swore it looked like the cat was scheming. It didn't help that the lion was slowly tapping its claws on one of its front paws against the concrete floor in the same way an impatient person would tap their fingers on a table. The young reporter immediately thought back to the five other lions he saw the other day. Their faces were also had the same mix of animal features but human emotions. But unlike those five lions, this sixth lion seemed to be filled with malicious intent. It was almost as if it was biding its time as the massive cat sat behind the mirror, patiently staring at the two humans who watched.

"That, is Shetani," Fanaka said, standing beside Bryan with his arms crossed.

"That thing can't be a lion, can it?" Bryan asked. "I've never seen a lion with black fur or red fucking eyes."

Fanaka pulled one of the chairs out from the table and motioned for Bryan to do the same. Bryan obliged and sat down, taking notice that Shetani followed both of the human's movements.

"Where the hell did you find a lion, not to mention five others, that big," Bryan asked, his eyes occasionally glancing back over to Shetani, who still had his red eyes fixated on the two.

Fanaka sighed.

"It all goes back to six years ago. I had just finished my first month working at Mahali Salama when a report came in of six rogue lions approaching the perimeter from the southeast. Situations like that are usually very big, considering that any rogue lion could be a threat to the animals we keep behind the perimeter. Several other employee's, including me, traveled out to the groups last known location, armed only with two tranquilizers loaded with enough anesthesia to bring down an averagely sized lion. From our estimates, Shetani and the other five lions are right now in the prime of their life, so six years ago they were equivalent to a sixteen year old human. But they were already twice the size of any lion that we've seen at that age. They looked as if they were fully grown when our driver spotted them a few feet in front of us. We made sure to radio in for back up before we stepped out of the car and walked towards the six lions."

Fanaka glanced back to Shetani, meeting the lions piercing gaze before continuing.

"As I told you earlier, the five we keep separate from Shetani were not very hostile to us. In fact, when we first approached them, it almost seemed as if they were willing to come with us. That was, until Shetani appeared. We were all as dumbfounded as you were. His appearance was that unlike anything we had ever seen before. Those damned red eyes of his pierced our very souls. All it took was a few chuffs and growls to change the demeanor of the five others. In an instance, the five lions who once seemed willing to come with us now barred their teeth and began to circle us, much like shark's would to their prey. It became obvious that we were no longer the hunters, but the hunted. One of the senior employee's with us, and a dear friend of mine, aimed his tranquilizer directly at Shetani in hopes of bringing the alpha of the pack down. Normally the dart would have brought down any lion, but I tell you, he shrugged it off like it was a mere mosquito. The dart only served to anger Shetani, prompting the black devil to charge my friend. In desperation, he emptied his gun of darts at the charging devil, hoping to bring him down. But it was too no avail. I can still hear his cries when I close my eyes, still see his eyes drain of life as Shetani ripped him limb from limb. Two other employees ran for the car, hoping to find refuge inside. They only met their demise, their screams filling the air. For the rest of us, it seemed we had finally met our ends as Shetani and the other lions began to encircle us once again, their maws and fur drenched in the blood of our comrades. But we were saved by our backup. Two other trucks arrived, carrying enough tranquilizer guns to bring down Shetani and the other five lions. Since then, we've kept the six lions here, only letting them out for a few hours each day, making sure Shetani is kept separate from the other five. Over their time here, Shetani earned his name among the staff, mauling several other employees and making numerous escape attempts. We have made numerous request to euthanize Shetani, but Mr. Roth refuses to do so due to his own ideals against euthanizing 'troublesome' animals. He believes that we can rehabilitate Shetani even though he's killed almost five employees and maimed several others. So we keep him locked away in here, feeding him every day. One could almost say he is biding his time in there, waiting for another chance to escape."

Bryan sat back in his chair, lost for words. Fanaka had finished his tale of Shetani, the black devil lion of Mahali Salama. Anyone else who heard the story would think of it as just another tall tale, but the evidence was sitting just beyond a pane of glass. The young reporter glanced back over to Shetani, meeting the black lion's gaze. He noticed an almost human like smirk plastered on the lions face, as if Shetani had heard the story and could sense Bryan's fear and shock.

"Let's get out of here," Fanaka said, quickly sitting up from his chair.

"Yeah," Bryan replied, still looking at Shetani. "Let's."

As Bryan turned to follow Fanaka back into the building's main hall, he took one last look at Shetani, his gaze meeting the lions blood red eyes as the door closed.

* * *

 **So here it is! Not much to say in this author's note, so enjoy!**

 **-JacksonMW**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

 _Ca-chick!_

The all too familiar sound of a camera shutter echoed across the silent savannah. Bryan sat nestled under a Baobab tree, a towel spread underneath the photographer to shield his clothes from the dusty savannah dirt. A light wind blew across the open savannah, rustling the tall, pale grass that surrounded him, casting a feeling of peace and calm across the landscape.

He had his camera zoomed in on a group of zebras about 50 feet in front of his location. Bryan took a few more shots of the black and white animals before rolling over onto his back. While doing so, he pulled out a leather bound notebook and a pen.

"The Savannah has a feeling of serenity hanging over it, like a…like a…damn it, like a what?!" Bryan exclaimed, speaking what he was scrawling into the notebook's pages. "Ah ha! Like a low lying cloud….no, that's stupid."

Bryan huffed aloud, setting the journal back into his bag. Writing on the spot had never been his strong suit. Much of his writing was done after he took the pictures and a few notes on where he took them and what exactly they were.

Still on his back, Bryan gazed up at the clear blue sky through the tree's bare branches, letting his thoughts take over his mind. Day dreaming was more of a skill than something that just happened to the young reporter. He usually let himself slip into long bouts of deep thought while out on excursions. Being out on the Savannah made entering such a state all the more easier. While out there, the young reporter didn't have to worry about the woes of modern society. There weren't any editors hounding him, deadlines to meet, bills to pay, or taxes to file. There was only him, his camera, and the animals.

 _Maybe I could just stay here and work at Mahali Salama,_ he thought as he continued to gaze at the clouds. _After all, this is the life. I think the Kenyans had a word for this…what was it? Oh yeah, hakuna matata, no worries._

"Hi," a small but audible voice said, its origin seemingly right next to Bryan's ear.

The young reporter shot up from his day dreaming like a loaded spring, arriving on his feet in mere seconds. He scanned the surrounding area, looking for whomever just spoke to him.

"Who's there?" he asked, his eyes darting around the landscape.

His mind racing, Bryan looked back towards the zebra's. The animals had taken notice of the humans frantic movements and were staring directly at him, their eerily human like eyes locked on the young reporter.

Bryan turned away from the zebras and looked back at his camera. Perched atop the end of his telescopic lens sat a Black Headed Oriole. The native bird was staring intently at the confused reporter, it's oddly human like eyes locked on Bryan. Its head was also titled in a curious manner, much like the lions he had seen back at the compound.

"Did you say that?" Bryan asked, pointing his index finger at the bird. "Oh what am I saying, of course it didn't! It's a bird for Christ's sake!"

Bryan shot the bird another stare and was treated with a series of tweets before the bird flew away.

Shaking his head, Bryan said, "I think that's enough photography for today."

Bending over, Bryan grabbed hold of his blanket and gave it a few good shakes before rolling it up into a tight burrito shape. His backpack was resting against the Baobab tree that sat behind his position. He grabbed hold of it and stuffed the folded blanket into the main compartment of the pack, making sure the other items in the pack were not disturbed by the addition of the blanket.

With the items in his backpack squared away, Bryan turned back to his camera. The camera had been mounted atop his tripod, giving it more height and a steadier surface. He first detached the camera from the mount and slung it around his neck. The tripod collapsed into itself, making it very small form and not much of a burden to carry around for long periods of time. Throwing several latches, Bryan collapsed the tripod and grabbed hold of the carrying bag for it. He stuffed it inside and slung the bag over his shoulder, having it rest next to his backpack.

Before making his way back to the compound, Bryan took another glance at the grazing zebras. Their eyes were still focused upon the young reporter. He smirked slightly and continued on his way, his steps making a trail through the tall grass.

The spot Bryan had found to photograph the animals was about two miles off of the main southern road of Mahali Salama. He found that much of the animals avoided the roads, with good reason of course. Years of evolution had eventually taught the animals to avoid any sort of large, grass less clearing for fear of poachers or anything else that might harm them.

As he made his way back to the road, Bryan caught sight of an object resting near the general area of the road. He stopped in his tracts and pulled the camera up to his right eye, holding it steady to get a good view of the object.

Bryan's telescopic lens was about as expensive as the camera itself. Hell, he could use it as an actual telescope if he wanted to. It could zoom in to 0.14 times the closest magnification of six meters. It was the pride of his journalistic tools.

Turning the zooming function around the lens, Bryan magnified the image in the view port to get a good look at whoever or whatever was on the road. The object looked to be an open top jeep. Sitting around it were two men, both wearing wide brim safari hats. It looked to be Fanaka and Chester. Bryan lowered his camera back down to hang around his neck and continued walking through the tall Savannah grass.

When he was within ear shot of the two, Bryan yelled out to them.

"Ahoy there," he called, now only a few feet away from the road.

Both Fanaka and Chester waved Bryan over to the jeep, prompting the young reporter to pick up his pace.

"'Ello there Mr. Anderson," Chester said with a tip of his hat.

"Get some good pictures?" Fanaka asked as Bryan arrived between the two and leaned up against the hood of the jeep.

"I got some pictures, yes," Bryan replied. "But I'll definitely need some more."

"Well you'll definitely get some more from where were takin' ya," Chester smiled, glancing over towards Fanaka and then to Bryan.

"Where's that?" Bryan asked, his interest piqued by the mention of the supposed amazing picture taking spot.

"It's off the sanctuary a ways, just bought a fifty mile drive just to the outskirts," Fanaka explained. "But trust us, it will be the best pictures you will ever take in your career."

"Well hell, let's get a move on," Bryan said, excited to see the place that Chester and Fanaka were talking about.

Chester and Fanaka nodded to each other and climbed into the jeep, the both of them taking up the front row of seats. Bryan hopped into the back row of seats, not bothering to open up the door and instead pulling himself in over the side.

"Now, there's a thing you should know about this place," Fanaka said as Chester revved the engine and started driving towards the outskirts of Mahali Salama. "The area we are about to show you is one of the closest guarded secrets of Mahali Salama, even more so than Shetani and the other six lions."

"Ya, I found only a few months back while flying around the surrounding area," Chester added. "Only, I, Mr. Roth, Fanaka, Elewa, and now you, know about it."

Bryan nodded slowly as he followed along with what they were telling him.

"We'll allow you to take pictures of the area, but you must absolutely refrain from publishing them until such time we are able to add the area into Mahali Salama's protected land. Do you understand," Fanaka asked, turning back towards Bryan.

"Geez, all of this secrecy," Bryan quipped. "This must be some special location to warrant it."

"So is that a yes?" Fanaka asked again.

Bryan nodded vigorously.

"Yes sir, you won't see me publishing any of the pictures I take. Cross my heart and hope to die," he replied.

"Great," smiled Fanaka, turning back around in his seat.

"Well if you don't mind, I'm going to catch some shut eye," Bryan stated as he started to make himself comfortable in the back seats. "Wake me when we get there."

"Will do," Chester said as the young reporter closed his eyes, drifting off into a light sleep.

* * *

"I repeat, is anyone receiving, over?" Chester said, holding a portable long range radio up to his mouth. A large amount of static was the only answer they received once he let go of the transmit button.

Bryan was startled awake by the static white noise. He gathered that he must have been out for quite some time, for the sun was hanging lower in the sky then from when he last saw it. The landscape around them had also changed. Rather than the earth being covered in lush grass, it was dry and cracked, much like a desert. A cloud of dust was trailing behind the tan colored jeep as it drove across the arid land.

"Should we turn back? If what they last said was true, that Shetani had escaped, they'll need our help," Bryan heard Fanaka say as he sat up in the back seat.

"Too late know, If it's anything like last time, we can assume Shetani would be heading towards the graveyard. We're only a few clicks out from it, so hopefully we can intercept the bastard and bring him back," Chester replied, shaking his head.

"But what about the radio. What if something's happened to them back at the compound," Fanaka protested.

"Don't worry, we're probably just out of range," Chester said, his voice giving way that such a thought was only a hope and not a concrete fact.

Bryan yawned loudly.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Sounds serious."

"Good, you're awake," Chester said. "There's been a small change in plans. We've lost communication with Mahali Salama. The last transmission we received from them was hard to make out but what we did hear was that Shetani has escaped the reserve."

The young reporter immediately perked up upon hearing that Shetani, the devil lion of Mahali Salama, had managed to escape.

"I wish we weren't," Fanaka replied, his voice grave and tainted with fear. "It also sounded like the other five escaped as well."

Chester nodded and said, "Shetani has always escaped alone, so this is new for us. He's also only made it past the fence once, but he was still rather young and not nearly as much of a threat as he is now. That time we were able to intercept him at a nearby elephant graveyard with little trouble, but seeing as our communication with the main compound is gone, we're on our own."

"Wait, we're going after not one, but six one thousand pound lions alone?!" Bryan exclaimed. "Can't we head back to the compound and get some help?"

Fanaka shook his head.

"We're closer to the graveyard than the compound, Bryan," he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to intercept them before they make it too far into the graveyard."

Bryan slumped back into his seat, letting out a long sigh.

"So we're basically going on a suicide mission then?" he asked, still trying to get a handle on the whole situation.

"Just try to relax," Chester said. "Think of it this way: its three highly evolved individuals like us against six dumb animals. The odds are in our favor."

The young reporter let out a sarcastic laugh.

"You forget we're going up against six lions, one of which literally looks like the devil incarnate, who are somehow significantly larger and probably stronger than the average lion you'd see at a zoo," Bryan stated, still trying to sway Fanaka and Chester into turning the jeep around. "Frankly, I'd rather cut my losses and let those stupid animals escape over losing my life."

Fanaka turned towards to Chester and said, "He does have a point Chester."

"Fanaka you should know better," Chester replied. "Those six lions are an asset of Mahali Salama. You've seen the damage they can cause, so imagine if they found their way into a village, knowing we had the chance right here to stop them. Besides, it's too late to turn around, we're here."

Bryan had been caught up in trying to make sense of the whole situation that he had failed to notice the change in the landscape. Chester had stopped the jeep at the top of a small slope which led down into a large, fog filled valley. Cautiously stepping out of the vehicle, Bryan walked over to the edge of the small slope and looked out into the elephant graveyard. Wisps of fog danced in between mounts of decaying black bones. The ground was muddied, black, and littered with pieces of elephant skeletons. No sunlight shown through the thick cloud layer, casting the graveyard in a dark shadow. He brought his camera up to his eye, clicking the shutter several times. The landscape emitted a feeling of death and despair, piercing Bryan's very being. No good would come from entering into the graveyard, and the young reporter had the gut feeling that doing so would mean he wouldn't be coming out again.

Chester and Fanaka had exited the jeep as well, but rather than joining Bryan to gaze out over the graveyard, they walked to the back of the jeep. Chester threw the latch for the tail gate and pulled it down. Sitting in the trunk of the vehicle were two green duffle bags, each worn and tattered from frequent use. Pulling out both of them, Chester set the bags on the ground, bits of wet dirt flying into his face. He unzipped only one bag, pulling out a bolt action rifle affixed with a simple hunting scope and a leather rope. While holding the rifle in his free hand, Chester dug around the supply filled bag and pulled out another firearm, this one being a six shot revolver loaded with .44 magnum rounds. The barrel was snub nosed to allow for better concealment.

He handed the revolver to Fanaka and then proceeded to pull out another revolver of the same make.

"Mr. Anderson," Chester called while holding the second revolver. "Stop gawking and get over here."

The young reporter heeded Chester's call and tromped around the jeep. He was immediately handed the revolver but refrained from taking it.

"What do you expect me to do with this?" he asked, staring at the snub nosed revolver.

"I expect you to shoot it," Chester sneered, shoving the revolver against Bryan's chest.

Bryan clumsily caught the revolver before it fell to the ground, lightly holding it in his hand.

"I'm a photojournalist, not a lion hunter," Bryan protested. "I've rarely even shot a gun, let alone kill something with it. Besides, shouldn't we be using tranquilizers?"

Chester shook his head.

"And risk them escaping again, no chance. It ends here and now."

On that note, Chester zipped the duffle bag up again and began walking towards the slope, followed closely by Fanaka and eventually Bryan, who had stuffed the revolver into the back of his pants. Standing at the edge of the slope, Chester surveyed the graveyard for a moment before turning to face Fanaka and Bryan.

"Alright," he said. "Here's the plan. Shetani and the other lions are in there somewhere, thinking they've made their escape. We have the upper hand. We'll move together, each of us keeping our eyes open for any movement besides our own. If either of you see anything, be it lion or hyena, don't ask questions, just shoot. The rounds in those guns will stop a lion dead in its tracks, so all you'll need is a level head and a steady hand."

"Hyena? I thought we were going after lions," Bryan piped up.

"This here graveyard is home to a nasty pack of hyenas, so odds are we'll see them as well as the lions. Just keep a level head and we'll all make it out of here in time for supper," Chester replied. "Now, follow me and keep low. We have the edge and I intend to keep it."

On that note, Chester turned back towards the graveyard and slid down the muddy slope, reaching the bottom in a matter of seconds. Fanaka followed suit, crouching down low upon reaching the bottom. Bryan was more cautious in his descent, taking the time to sit down and slowly inch himself over the edge before sliding down the muddy incline. His landing was a lot less graceful than the other two, for he stumbled slightly upon reaching the bottom. He shook himself off and crouched down, following behind Fanaka and Chester as they proceeded into the graveyard.

It was eerily quiet inside the graveyard. The only sound Bryan could make out was that of the wind and his own breathing. The fog seemed to becoming thicker and thicker the deeper he proceeded, making it nearly impossible to keep up with Fanaka and Chester. Mounds of bones blended into the fog, becoming dark silhouettes in the thick mist. Seconds seemed to turn into hours as he and the other two traveled deeper into the desolate graveyard.

It eventually got to the point to where the young reporter felt completely alone, despite the fact that he could just barely make out Fanaka's crouched figure in front of him. The low hum of the wind had come to a standstill, leaving nothing but Bryan's breathing and heartbeat, both of which seemed to grow in volume with each step he took. A feeling of being watched slowly crept up upon the reporter, growing in intensity with each passing seconds. His movements became more frantic, his eyes and head darting in every direction, trying to see anything through the thick blanket of fog. His breathing increased, becoming frantic and stuttered, each breath becoming longer than the last.

Suddenly, he froze in place. Whether it was instinct or pure terror, Bryan found himself unable to move his legs. He watched in silence as Fanaka and Chester crept out of view, unable to call out to them. The hairs on his back sprang to life, sending a long, cold shiver down his spine. A low, almost hushed growling noise echoed across his ears. Eyes wide with fear, Bryan slowly turned around, gun held close to his head. Through the thick fog behind the reporter sat six glowing eyes, each a vibrant color, the closest of them being the all too familiar red eyes that had gazed at him from behind a glass pane. Only this time, there was nothing separating the reporter and the owner of such red eyes.

The eyes seemed to hover in place, each of them fixated on Bryan. More glowing eyes began to appear behind the other six, these ones all a vibrant amber in color. Laughing soon followed, but it wasn't an ordinary laugh. The laughing sounded oddly human but didn't lack in sinister intent. The maniacal laughter began to drown out the reporter's breathing, sending violent trembles across his body.

As if broken by the laughter, the fog began to lift, revealing the full gravity of Bryan's situation. Sitting in pouncing positions mere feet in front of him sat the six lions, the most apparent of them being the black furred Shetani, whose red eyes glowed ever brighter. Bryan slowly glanced around him, seeing hyenas perched upon the mounds of bones that surrounded the reporter and sitting behind the six lions. The hyenas continued to laugh, as Bryan slowly sat upright, his hands clutching onto the revolver.

Turning to look back to where he had last seen Fanaka and Chester, Bryan saw the two grown men frozen in the same state of fear as Bryan. They had walked straight into a trap, arriving just in time for dinner.

"I'm not going down without a fight," Chester said quietly as he flicked the safety on his rifle.

With lightning fast speed, the grizzled pilot brought the rifle to his shoulder and fired of a shot, striking a hyena right between the eyes, sending its body tumbling off a pile of bones.

"COME GET SOME YOU BASTARDS," Chester exclaimed as he took off running, breaking through the line of hyenas that surrounded the three humans.

Several of the hyenas followed, laughing as they ran the pilot down. Several more gun shots rang out before a blood curdling scream silenced them.

 _Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh FUCK,_ Bryan thought as ravenous sounds of eating echoed across the silent landscape. _Just run for it damn it! Move your legs! Do something!_

"Bryan," Fanaka whispered, both of their eyes locked on the still looming herd of ravenous carnivores. "I'm going to distract them. I want you to run for it. Don't think, just run and don't look back."

The young reporter had no time to nod before Fanaka broke the silence with a war cry. Rather than rush the line of hyenas, he made a mad dash straight at the six lions, aiming his pistol straight for Shetani. The herd of carnivores were caught off guard, their focus turning from both Bryan and Fanaka to just Fanaka.

Seeing his chance, a surge of adrenaline rushed through Bryan as he took off running, heading the opposite way of Fanaka. He didn't look back as he heard a deafening roar followed by another scream.

Bryan had no idea where he was going as he ran through the graveyard, trying to get as much distance as he could. For a few seconds, the only sound was the thud of his boots against the muddy ground. Soon however, he heard another set of footsteps, these ones much louder. One of the lions was on his tail as he weaved in and out of the mounds of bones. He dared not look back, keeping his eyes locked straight ahead as the other pair of footsteps grew closer and closer.

"SHIT," he yelled out as his feet suddenly fell beneath him.

In his hurried state, the young reporter ran right off a small cliff, his body somersaulting into the cliff side. Bones crunched beneath his falling body as Bryan rolled down the cliff side, the world spinning around him as he tried to stop himself. He landed with an audible thud, his body bouncing slightly as it violently collided with the bottom of the cliff.

His vision hazy and spinning, Bryan tried to sit up but just fell to the ground again. Every part of his body ached as he laid sprawled out on the ground. All he could hear was a ringing noise as he slowly sat himself up, leaning his back against the cliff side.

Blinking his eyes, he looked straight ahead and found one of the lions looming above him, it's long, shaggy mane matted and sprinkled with bits of bone. Bryan stared up into the big cats face and found it had the same human like green eyes as the first of the lions he had seen back at Mahali Salama the day before.

All it did was stand there, its enormous face staring down at the frail human. Bryan tried to feel around for his gun, but realized he lost it in the fall. All he could do was stare up into the big cats face and hope for a quick death.

The lion slowly raised its left paw, its razor sharp claws fully extended. Bryan closed his eyes and waited for it to end.

"Just make it quick," he said aloud.

Time seemed to be at a standstill as the young reporter waited to feel the icy cold embrace of death sweep over him.

"You'll thank me later," a voice said.

Bryan was about to open his eyes to find the source of the voice but found his world turn to black as he felt a blunt object hit the side of his head.

* * *

 **Holy hell it's been a while! I've finally gotten back into the grove of writing (almost) daily, so I'm hoping to update a lot more frequently now. I hate leaving my readers like that, but school piled on really quick.**

 **Anyways, people are dead! Bryan is dead? Probably not cause he's the main character, but shit has gotten serious!**

 **I'd like your thoughts on how well I pulled off the feeling of dread upon entering the graveyard. It was my first real time adding some horror esque elements to a story. I felt pretty spooked just writing it, but please let me know your impressions.**

 **Expect to see some familiar faces in the coming chapters as Bryan finds his way into the Pride Lands!**

 **Keep hanging in there!**

 **JacksonMW**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

 _Beep beep... Beep beep... Beep beep..._

The soft ringing of an alarm watch crept into Bryans mind, summoning his conscious back into the waking world. The young reporter's eyes slowly fluttered open as he let out a loud groan. To put it in simple terms, everything hurt from his head right down to his legs. With movements like a sloth, Bryan grasped his watch and silenced the beeping before slumping back against whatever he was leaning on.

For a moment he thought he was back in his cozy bed, but it soon dawned on him that he most certainly was not. His eyes now fully open, Bryan found himself gazing over the elephant graveyard once again, watching the wisps of fog fluttering throughout the mounds of bones.

"Why couldn't it had been a dream?" he groaned, slumping his head against a cold metal surface which he assumed was the jeep.

Chester and Fanaka were dead, their bones probably striped clean by those bastard hyenas and now decaying with the rest of the remains in the graveyard. Bryan couldn't wrap his head around the previous events. One minute they were creeping through the graveyard in hopes of finding the six escaped lions, the next all hell had broken loose. Chester was run down, Fanaka sacrificed himself, and Bryan had fallen into a ditch. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was the green eyed lion looming over him, ready to strike a killing blow, and someone saying something.

"You'll thank me later," he said aloud, still staring blankly out on the graveyard. "Did the lion say that? He must have. There was no one else around. Besides, I should be dead by all accounts. D-did he spare me?"

All of the thinking and trying to make sense of what happened sent a throbbing sensation rippling through his brain. He groaned again, lifting his hand up to his left temple. Wincing in pain, Bryan withdrew his hand quickly. The lion definitely hit him, but it didn't claw him.

With all of these unanswered questions coupled with the chance of a talking animal, Bryan almost wished he had died back there. The worst of it was that now he was all alone, stranded in the African wilderness with a pack of hyenas and gargantuan lions roaming around. Communication with Mahali Salama had ceased before their arrival at the graveyard, so odds are that they still wouldn't be up and running.

"Damn it all to hell," Bryan griped, closing his eyes. "I knew this was a bad idea, but no one ever listens to the reporter."

Having enough of laying around, Bryan pulled his feet close and reached his hands up, running them along the side of the jeep to find anything to help hoist himself up. He managed to grab hold of the door handle and then proceeded to hoist the rest of his body up off the muddy ground. Actually sitting up helped alleviate much of the pain he had been feeling, however when he went to put some weight on his left leg, the young reporters nerves were alight with pain.

He let out a small yell, catching himself before it became anything too loud. He shifted his weight onto leaning against the jeep so he could get a look at his left leg. Years of photojournalism and traveling to exotic locations has left Bryan with plenty of broken bones. Each trip he seemed to come out with some injury to a limb, and it seemed to be that the trend was holding strong.

Grabbing hold of his injured leg, Bryan looked it over for any sort of obvious injury. There didn't seem to be any bones protruding from the skin and nothing seemed exceptionally limp, so odds were that it was a simple sprained ankle.

Gently, he began to set his leg down, lightly pressing the sole of his foot against the muddy ground. He winced slightly as he just barely put enough weight on the foot to allow him to stand straight. Making sure his balance was steady, Bryan then pushed himself off the side of the jeep and hobbled over to the edge of the slope. His eyes moved swiftly across the graveyard, looking for any sign of a lion or hyena. He didn't spy any glowing eyes peeking through the fog, so the young reporter turned back around to look at the jeep.

"Welp," he said with a sigh. "The cars not going anywhere."

All four tires had been ripped apart, no doubt from the handiwork of Shetani and the others. Rubber and bits of metal were strewn about the ground. Bryan hobbled around to the back of the jeep, taking note of the deep claw marks that dotted the jeep's frame. The lions seemed to have also gotten into the supply bags. Ammo, food, water bottles, and all other sorts of materials were littered around what remained of the green duffle bags. The young reporter bent down, looking for anything he could salvage from the remains of their supplies. All that was usable was two plastic bottles of water, some gauze, several granola bars, a box of .44 magnum rounds, and a snub nose revolver.

Thankfully, it appeared the interior of the jeep had been relatively spared in the sacking, so Bryan sat up again, making sure to take his scavenged supplies, and hobbled over to the open top jeep.

"Oh thank god," he said, letting out huge sigh of relief as he saw that his backpack and camera bag were completely unharmed.

His camera was also still hanging around his neck and still seemed to work fine despite several scratches on the case. Bryan swung the door open for the jeep and sat down on the leather seats. He pulled his backpack close and unzipped it. All of his supplies were still accounted for, bringing a large amount of self-praise from Bryan for his foresight.

Bryan stuffed the scavenged supplies in with the rest of his backpack's contents and zipped it up once more. He slung the large pack over his shoulder and then did the same for his tripod bag.

"Oh what's the use," Bryan said, letting out a defeated sigh as he sat down on the leather chair of the jeep. "I'm stuck in the African wilderness with absolutely no way to contact civilization, I have limited supplies, probably only enough to get me through a week, and I'm injured. I'm pretty much a walking meal for anything out here. I might as well just sit here and wait for the hyenas to come back or put these bullets to use."

Bryan is never one to give up so easily, but the situation seemed truly hopeless. He had barely escaped with his life only to be left to die in the wilderness. Chester and Fanaka, two men who at least had some idea on how to survive out here, were now rotting amongst the elephants. Growing up in a cushy upper middle class household did little to hone his survival skills. The expeditions Bryan has taken over the years, from a monastery in Nepal to war torn Iraq, helped to develop some survival skills, but not nearly enough to keep himself alive for however long it would take for a rescue party to find him or for him to find a village.

At this point, two options were floating around Bryan's mind. Option A was to start walking in some direction and die a slow death from starvation, or Option B, which was to end it all with a quick bullet in the head.

"I never thought I'd be considering suicide," Bryan thought as he pulled the gun out of his bag and held it up to his face at eye level.

As he stared at the gun, something beyond it caught the young reporter's eye. He lowered the gun and noticed something etched into the muddy ground a few feet away from him. Sitting up from the leather seat, Bryan hobbled towards the etching, its shape becoming clearer as he neared it. Standing directly over the etching, he found it to form an arrow pointing straight ahead of him.

"Who the hell would draw an arrow in the dirt?" he questioned, taking a quick look around for anything that looked like it could have drawn the shape.

He stood still for a moment, staring blankly at the crudely drawn dirt arrow. Did Shetani draw it to lure him into another trap? Bryan knelt down, pulling off his backpack and unzipping a side pocket. He pulled out a small pocket compass, a trivial tool in the modern world but now a tool that would serve its purpose. The young reporter unclicked the cap to the compass and pointed it along the path the arrow had been pointing too. Whoever or whatever had made the arrow had made it to point to the south. Bryan looked up towards the sun, being able to just barely make it out amongst the clouds that hung overhead. It was well past midday, signifying that the sun was towards the west, which was at Bryan's right.

"You know what? Screw waiting around to die. I'm Bryan Anderson, and Bryan Anderson does not give up that easily," Bryan said, his sense of morale reinvigorated by finding the mysterious arrow. "I'm going to head south and hopefully find something to keep me alive."

With his purpose renewed, Bryan sat up from the ground, stuffing the compass into one of his pants free pockets. He took one last look at the destroyed jeep before hobbling forward, hoping to find something, anything really, that could help him survive.

* * *

"Dad, are you even listening?" a young male lion cub asked.

Simba perked up at the question, turning his attention back to his young son Kopa. The son of the king looked much like his father as a cub. In fact, he was almost a spitting image of Simba. The only difference was a small tuft of brown fur atop the young prince's head, a feature his father lacked.

"I'm sorry Kopa," Simba replied, turning his attention back to his son. "Dad's just got a lot on his mind lately."

Kopa chuckled.

"It's okay," the young cub said. "Anyways, I was wondering if you could take me hunting tomorrow. I really REALLY want to learn how."

Simba sat up from the cold cave ground, stretching his joints before walking towards the opening. Kopa hustled after his father, walking along the king's side as they exited the main cave of Pride Rock. The two stopped at the edge of the cliff that looked eastward out over the Pridelands and sat down.

"Are you going to lecture me again?" the young cub groaned. "I already know that everything the light touches is our kingdom and to never go near the elephant graveyard."

"I don't lecture you near as much as your sister Kiara," Simba said, chuckling at the cub's remark. "I understand that you want to do more around here, Kopa. Your mother and I both appreciate your eagerness, but you have to remember that you're still very young. Just have some patience and faith that your time will come."

Kopa's face immediately became down cast, his ears and head hung low in disappointment. Simba took notice of his son's disappointment, bringing out the big lions softer side.

As Kopa began to walk back into Pride Rock, Simba said, "Now, I suppose I could take you out tomorrow and show you a few moves…"

The young lion cub immediately perked up, turning back to his father, his amber eyes wide with joy.

"Really?!" Kopa exclaimed.

"But only if you eat all of your dinner tonight," Simba replied, shooting his son a sly smile.

Overflowing with joy, Kopa rushed towards his father, nuzzling him affectionately.

"Thanks dad," the young cub said.

Simba returned the affectionate nuzzle and then watched as his son bounded down the natural path that allowed access to the ground from Pride Rock. He couldn't help but smile at his son's youthful energy and eagerness to learn.

"He reminds me so much of you," a soothing voice said from behind Simba.

The king turned around to find his mother, Sarabi, lounging on a rock next to the entrance to the cave. Sarabi was one of the older lions in the pride, though definitely not out of her prime. She still often led hunting parties, but has giving a large amount of authority over to the younger Sarafina. She now spends most of her days looking after her grandchildren Kiara, Kopa, and Kion as well as helping to manage matters around Pride Rock.

Simba approached his mother, nuzzling her before sitting down next to her.

"Yes, he does," Simba sighed. "But that's what worries me. You know how I was when I was a cub. Kopa has the same youthful eagerness I had, but I just hope he doesn't make the choices I made."

"Simba, you had to suffer through a great deal as a cub, more so than anyone could have imagined," Sarabi stated. "I would say having to do so made you into the king you are today, but you must remember that both Kopa and Kion will never have to go through what you did. They'll have all of us to rely on."

"You're right, as usual," Simba smiled. "Speaking of Kion, where has he been all day? The last time I saw him was this morning."

"I asked Zazu to go find him a few moments ago," Sarabi replied. "Knowing him, he's probably off sparring with the other Lion Guard members near the water hole."

"I'm glad he's taken the leadership role of the Guard so seriously," Simba remarked. "He's good at it too. Hyena incursions have decreased since we reestablished it along with the trivial disputes. Why didn't father have the Guard established?"

Sarabi thought back to the time when Mufasa was entering his kingship, which seemed so long ago to the aged lioness.

"During your fathers rule, our numbers weren't nearly as large as they are now. We had to focus our efforts more towards hunting and leave the governing up to the king," she explained, her son listening carefully. "And now that you've welcomed the Outsiders into our fold, it made sense to reestablish the Guard to help manage the larger pride."

Simba nodded, in agreement with his mother's explanation, and then asked, "How do you think the Outlanders have adjusted?"

"You really do have a lot on your mind," Sarabi said, partially shocked by how troubled her son was. "If you keep worrying like worrying like this, you'll start getting gray hairs. I think I see some now, in fact."

Sarabi playfully yanked Simba's mane, prompting both her and her son to chuckle.

"The king has to take everything into consideration, always making sure to consider all situations, even those already passed," Simba stated, swatting his mother's paw away.

"Oh of course, but you shouldn't let the past decisions haunt you," Sarabi advised. "I feel like the Outsiders have adjusted well and have more than earned their place here. It was a rocky first few moons, but now it's almost as if they were never really from the Outlands in the first place. Keep that in mind if you find yourself dwelling on your decision to let them back into the Pridelands."

"You're right again," Simba laughed.

"Wisdom comes with age Simba," Sarabi replied as she turned her gaze out to the Pridelands.

Simba looked out over the Pridelands as well, his mind still swimming with thoughts.

* * *

"Are you even trying?" a young male adolescent lion bearing dark purple eyes mocked after he threw his opponent to the ground after a failed attack.

The thrown lion, a female of the same age as the male with bright magenta eyes and sandy colored fur, chuffed angrily as she recovered from the toss. She wiped a bit of dirt from her face before standing.

"Oh, I'm trying Leo, just not as hard as you," she chided, grinning at the male. "Unlike you, I don't have anything to prove."

The male lion, known as Leo, growled at the female's remark before charging forward. He leapt at the female lion, arm's extended for a take down. The female had been anticipating such an action and managed to make a quick side step just before Leo landed. She swung her body around, building momentum to swat Leo onto the ground. Her right paw made contact with Leo's face, the sheer force of the blow sending the arrogant male sprawling onto the ground. Seeing her opportunity to end the match, the female pounced on Leo, pinning his arms.

"Yield," she exclaimed, her face inches from Leo's.

Leo considered his options and then sighed.

"I yield," he said. "Now can you get off of me Jasi?"

Jasi, the female lion who had bested Leo, released her hold on him, stepping to his side to allow Leo to get off the ground. Jasi and Leo were both brother and sister. They were originally born in the Outlands, their parents only joining up with the Outsiders days before Zira's death. The two are lean and powerful lions who still have yet to reach their prime. In human years, they would be considered teenagers despite only being two years old. Both bear very light brown fur, with Leo having a dark brown, almost black, mane that just barely reaches to the end of his neck. You could easily tell they were related to each other, much like Simba's three cubs.

"Excellent fight you two," another male lion who was around the same age as Leo said as he climbed down from a small hill overlooking the sparring area. "But Leo, do you know what you did wrong?"

"I fell for her bait…again," Leo said, lowering his head. "It's just that she gets on my nerves so much Kion, especially when she says stuff like that."

Jasi laughed.

"Oh please Leo, you know I don't mean it," she said, smiling at her brother. "I just know you'll do something stupid when I do."

Kion, Simba's second eldest child, chuckled lightly. Much like his younger brother Kopa, Kion bares a lot of resemblance to his father, though his fur color is more similar to his mother, Nala. His fiery red mane reaches a little bit below his neck, just barely touching his front shoulders. He bares the same soothing amber eyes as his father and has much of the same temperament.

"If you were in a real fight, your adversary would use verbal attacks like that to get you off guard. And when you're off guard, you make mistakes," Kion explained, placing a paw on Leo's shoulder. "Other than that, both of your skills have improved dramatically. I'm proud to have you as members of the Guard."

"Geez, your too much like your father Kion," Jasi joked as she walked up to the small rock formation were Kion had been. "Always overly emotional. A simple I'm proud of you would do just fine."

Kion was about to interject but was cut off by Leo.

"She's got a point," he said, smiling as he followed his sister up to the rocks.

"Oh bite me," Kion sneered. "You don't see him down here in the dirt all day."

Jasi laughed and said, "That's because he's the king. We're the soldiers, we like the dirt."

Kion huffed.

"I guess," he said. "While you're up there, do you see any sign of Gozi and the patrol group? The sun's getting close to setting."

Jasi took a quick look around, using her superior sight to try and pick out the group of lions Kion had sent out on patrol.

"Nope," she replied. "They're probably heading back now though."

Kion nodded in reply and was about to join the two up on the rock, however a faint flapping noise echoed in his ears. He perked up and scanned the sky, noticing a blue hornbill approaching the arena from the west. No doubt it was Zazu, major domo to his father. Kion walked up the small slope that led down into the arena to meet Zazu.

"Greetings Prince Kion," Zazu said as he landed in front of Kion.

Kion groaned and said, "Zazu, don't call me Prince Kion. Kion will do just fine."

"Pardon me for proper formality, _Kion_. Your father would like you and the rest of the Lion Guard to report back to Pride Rock," the blue horn bill stated. "The hunting party will be returning shortly, so he would like all of you back for dinner."

"That's it?" Kion exclaimed. "Why didn't he come himself if all you had to tell me it was time to come home for supper!?"

Zazu took a step back, shocked from the sudden outburst.

"As the king, your father is very busy Kion. Sometimes he can't be troubled with a simple matter of getting you for dinner," the horn bill explained, taking on a gentler tone.

"Whatever," Kion scoffed. "Come on guys, time to head back."

"What about Gozi and the others?" Leo asked as he hopped off the rock.

"They'll know to return to Pride Rock," Kion replied as he took off into a jogging pace through the tall grass that lined the Pridelands.

Jasi and Leo followed as well, ending up jogging besides their leader as they made their way back to the large L shaped kopje that was Pride Rock.

* * *

The African sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the landscape. Darkness was soon to engulf the land, giving any predator a severe advantage over the lone human who continued his southward trek.

Bryan had noticed the landscape slowly begin to change, the dry, cracked ground becoming dotted with green vegetation of varying sizes. The young reporter could barely make out the shape of the jeep when he turned around to make sure nothing was following him. He was no longer able to see the graveyard as well, suspecting it curved westward.

"Man, how the hell did I get myself stuck in this mess," Bryan said aloud, finding himself talking more and more out loud to himself.

His mind wandered back to how he decided to explore the continent of Africa. It was in between jobs for the young reporter, a situation he had become well accustomed too. Bryan had completed an independent feature report on the ongoing war on terror for Time Magazine. He had finished his several months of deployment in the heat of the conflict, managing to interview both United States soldiers, high ranking officials, citizens caught in the conflict, and a few captured terrorist members. It was definitely not his magnum opus, but Bryan was still proud of the work he did and the money he earned doing it.

But being on such a long lasting job stirred fear in the young reporter. He dreaded how long it could be until he found more work. Naturally, being a free-lance reporter encouraged such situations, causing Bryan to often consider finding a more secure line of work. But the freedom that being free-lance offered was too great to ignore.

After spending so much time in the Middle East, Bryan yearned for another exotic location to travel and report on. So, naturally, Africa was his first choice. Its untamed wilderness invited exploration ever since the times of colonization. Not even a month into his dry spell, Bryan had contacted several agencies that deal with the more people and animal oriented topics, booked a flight to Africa, and had begun the grand tour that was supposed to have ended with his visit to Mahali Salama.

"But now I'm here," he said as he watched the sun climb lower and lower in the sky. "Stranded in the African wilderness with some supplies and a camera."

As the sun was just barely peeking out over the western horizon, a bank of clouds had moved in, covering the sky and blocking the exceptionally bright African night. Before the daylight had been snuffed by the clouds, Bryan was just able to make out some odd rock formation in the distance. Had it been daytime, he would have progressed further to investigate, but night time was not the time to be wandering the African wilderness.

Shelter wise, Bryan lacked anything besides his large blanket. Much to his luck, he had spotted a Baobab tree that would serve as good cover if it happened to rain. He didn't expect any predators to investigate what looked like a dead body, he didn't see himself climbing up into the tree anytime soon.

Arriving at the tree, Bryan made haste to pull out his blanket. He set his backpack and camera bag up against the large trunk of the tree and leaned his body up against the smooth bark. With the shroud of night covering the landscape, Bryan slowly drifted off into a light sleep, waiting for the morning to come.

* * *

 **Howdy again dear readers! As promised, more frequent updates! In this chapter, we are finally introduced to the Pridelanders. In writing this chapter and deciding which characters to include, I've mixed several characters from different branches of the Lion King Universe into my story. Those that are not O.C shall be listed here: Kopa, Kion, Kiara, Kovu, Vitani, Simba, Sarabi, Sarafina. The first two, Kopa and Kion, haven't really been expanded upon at the time of this writing. Kopa comes from the Lion King: Six New Adventures, a Disney book published before the Lion King II. Kion is the main character of the Disney cartoon coming this fall known as The Lion Guard. I loved the idea of a lion royal guard/police force and decided to keep it, though I did add some years to Kion, making him comparable to an eighteen year old human. Of course, the others need no introduction as they should be well known.**

 **Now for the O.C Pridelanders: Leo, Jasi, Gozi, Mavu, Kulinda, Uzo, and Kuzo. The first three (Leo, Jasi, and Gozi) were introduced in this chapter (except Gozi, who was mentioned). They are some of the primary members of the Lion Guard and Kion's close friends. Mavu and Kulinda are Leo and Jasi's father and mother respectively. Uzo and Kuzo are two young male lions, both identical twins, who are the newest additions to the Lion Guard.**

 **So now that quick descriptions and such are out of the way, let me know what you guys thought of this chapter, and prepare to see our heroic young reporter bridge the gap between species!**

 **You guys rock!**

 **JacksonMW**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

"Dad," Kopa whispered as he pawed Simba's sleeping body.

The mouth of the cave was facing towards the west, hiding it from the rising morning sun. The lions and lionesses within the cave still slumbered as Kopa tried to get Simba to get up. The young prince had woken up much of the pride once before, albeit accidentally of course, but he had no desire to do so again.

"Wake up dad," Kopa whispered again, gently pawing at Simba's face.

The king of the Pridelands rolled over, turning away from his son.

"It's too early Kopa," Simba groaned. "Go back to sleep."

"You said in the morning, and its morning," the young prince pestered. "The early bird catches the worm and I want to catch that worm. Come on!"

Simba let another groan. He had come face to face with the iron will of a child, his child to be exact. The situation felt eerily similar to when he pestered his father, Mufasa, to show him the kingdom all those years ago. As much as Simba wanted to sleep, he knew his son wouldn't do the same.

"Alright," the king grumbled, slowly lifting himself up off the stone ground. "I'm getting up."

Nala, the queen and Simba's mate, rolled over towards her son and Simba.

"Be safe boys," she said, her voice still clouded by sleep.

"Next time you're taking him out," Simba whispered before nuzzling Nala affectionately.

As Simba gave Nala one last nuzzle, Kopa had already made his way to the mouth of the cave. The young prince was overflowing with excitement as he watched his dad slowly and carefully make his way out of the cave, making sure to not disturb any of the others as he exited the den. Once outside of the cave, Simba took a moment to take in the sight of the Pridelands in the early morning.

The sun had already risen, causing a long shadow of Pride Rock to be cast westwards. Few animals were moving at this hour, but he still saw some herds of Antelope bounding across the grass and still heard the many noises of the birds. It was truly a beautiful landscape, and one he was proud to preside over.

* * *

"Mommy, I don't wanna get up for school," Bryan groaned as his eyes squinted from the bright morning sun hitting his face.

The young reporter had rolled himself up into a burrito of sorts in the middle of the night. Only his head was showing from under the blanket. He rolled onto his back as he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was met with the thin branches of the Baobab tree and the bright blue morning sky.

"Great," he moaned. "I'm still stuck out in the wilderness."

Blinking several times, he sat himself up, his head still the only part of his body that wasn't covered by the blanket. The African sun had just risen over the eastern horizon and was shining brightly in the sky. Bryan winced as he turned away from the bright sunlight. He wiggled his arms to loosen the hold of the tightly wrapped blanket, managing to free his arms from its grasp. Looking down at his digital watch, he checked the time, seeing that it was just past seven o'clock.

"Welp, I guess I should get moving," he sighed as he began to unravel the blanket from the rest of his body.

Pulling the blanket out from under his body, Bryan set it off to the side. He twisted his body around to face the trunk of the tree he had slept against and grabbed hold of his backpack. It had made an excellent pillow for the long night before, which surprised Bryan. He had thought that the amount of objects he held within the backpack would have made it extremely lumpy, but had as good as a sleep as one can when stranded in a hostile environment.

Unzipping a side pocket, Bryan reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the scavenged granola bars that he had taken from the wreckage of the jeep. It was slightly crushed, but still edible. He unraveled the metallic wrapping that encased the bar, crumbling it up into a ball and stuffing it back into his backpack. As he took several bites from the granola bar, Bryan sat up off the ground, his gaze still facing eastward.

"I'm gonna need something else besides granola bars if I'm going to survive," Bryan said aloud before taking another bite.

Finishing off the last piece of the granola bar, Bryan wiped the crumbs from his hand and turned southward to reorient himself.

"Now let's see if I can see where I'll be"-Bryan stuttered as he turned towards the south, lost for words when his gaze met the landscape that laid sprawled out before him.

It was unlike anything else the young reporter had seen before; rolling hills covered in swaying green grass, lush vegetation dotting the landscape, animals of all kinds scattered about. It was almost too good to be true. Bryan rubbed his eyes, blinking several times to make sure the scene that laid before him wasn't a mirage. Looking up again, he was met with the same view.

The natural beauty of the landscape left Bryan speechless. For once in his life, he was at a loss for words. All he could do was run to get his camera, which sat a top its bag under the tree. Camera now in hand, he began to take pictures like a madman, zooming in and zooming out in no particular fashion. There was so much to see, so much vibrant nature left undisturbed and unhindered.

The golden morning sun shone down on the lush landscape, casting shadows across the grass. Animals of all kinds roamed the tall grass with not a care in the world. A water hole sat towards the south east, drawing a large concentration of the animals in the area. Several rivers flowed from all directions into the large reservoir, their paths blending into the lush landscape. Far to the south sat a large gorge that was left bare of any vegetation but still added to the natural beauty of the land.

However, the most striking feature of this lush and vibrant landscape was the large L shaped kopje that resided towards the east. It was a magnificent marvel of nature, carved from years and years of weathering. A sloping hill covered in green vegetation ran up the rocky backside that gave way to the jagged peak of the kopje. Down the face of the peak sat another interesting feature, a large, long rock that sat perpendicular to the main spire. It seemed to not only stem from the main spire itself, but the perpendicular section which rounded out the kopje's L shape was wedged far into the ground at its base.

Bryan's camera was still running a mile a minute as he zoomed in and out of the magnificent terrain.

"This must have been the place Fanaka and Chester were talking about," Bryan mused as he lowered his camera, his gaze still spanning the land.

Feelings of guilt began to flood into the young reporters mind, but he pushed them away, focusing more on the land than what had previously happened.

"Things are starting to take a turn for the better," Bryan said aloud as he tromped back over to his backpack. "Since I'm at the originally planned destination, odds are that Elewa or Mr. Roth knew about our expedition. So that would mean that once they learn about us missing, they'll began a search pattern that would encompass our last known destination, which is right here. So all I have to do is find a place to make shelter and wait for the rescue choppers."

Bryan said all this aloud to himself as he finished packing up his items. He's always found himself talking aloud, not because of any mental issues, but to organize his thoughts better.

"Although," he said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder along with the camera bag, "all of that is banking on the fact that Mahali Salama is still operational and that Elewa or someone is still- Nope, don't dwell there Bryan. Don't bog yourself down with sentimentality until you're on the plane ride home. Focus on staying alive, mourn later."

The young reporter took a deep breath, breathing in the crisp air of the Savannah. He turned towards the lush landscape, taking a few more seconds to look it over.

"That kopje looks like as good as any place to make a shelter," he stated before setting off into the vibrant landscape.

* * *

"Where are we going dad?" Kopa asked, taking a glance behind him, noticing that Pride Rock was quite a ways away.

The young prince followed closely behind his father, the two lions making their way through the lush grass.

"Nowhere in particular," Simba replied just before he stopped. "I just like taking walks in the morning some times. It helps clear my head and prepares me for the day ahead."

"Oh," Kopa muttered, sitting down next to Simba. "So what are you going to teach me first? Pouncing? Stalking!?"

Simba chuckled lightly at his son's never ending energy.

"In due time Kopa," the king replied. "First, I'm going to ask you a very important question: Why do we hunt?"

Kopa scoffed at the question.

"Because we need to eat dad, duh," the young prince said proudly.

"That's a very good answer," Simba chuckled. "But there's a larger reason behind it. We eat the antelope and the zebra's, yes, but it's all a part of the Circle of Life. It's the natural order of things. Our hunting keeps the delicate balance of life in check. We can't shy away from hunting, because doing so would put a strain on the resources in the Pridelands, and we can't over hunt the other animals because doing so would destroy the balance of nature. Take the hyenas for example. Do you know why they're barred from the Pridelands?"

Kopa thought long and hard at the question, searching for a logical answer. The young prince had never met a hyena before, but he had heard stories from the older lions on their disregard for order and their general greediness.

"Because they don't play by the rules?" Kopa answered, looking up at Simba.

Simba smiled and patted Kopa on the back.

"Exactly. Past kings have tried to work with the hyena's to curb their disregard for order, but each time they've tried, the Pridelands have fallen out of balance," Simba explained. "That's were my job, as king, comes in. I must keep this delicate balance in check. And I do that both through the Lion Guard and our hunting parties. We only hunt what we need to survive, no more and no less. Nothing goes to waste."

All the while Simba was talking, Kopa held his gaze on his father. The young cub was enamored with how much responsibility the king had and respected his father highly for being able to manage it all. Though he would like to learn more on ruling a kingdom, Kopa was well versed in the rules pertaining to the regency. Kiara, being the first born, was next in line for the throne. Such a fact brought the cub to harbor no ill will towards his older sister and her mate, Kovu, for there was still plenty for the young prince to do. He could join the Lion Guard with his brother Kion or be a hunter with the other members of the pride.

"So, what you're saying is that as a hunter, I would help you manage the balance of life?" Kopa asked, hoping to clarify what he had just heard.

"That sums it up pretty well actually," Simba replied, happy that Kopa was showing so much interest in the duties of maintaining the Pridelands. "Are you up for the task?"

Kopa straightened his stance and lifted his right paw in a salute.

"Yes sir," he exclaimed. "So what are ya gonna teach me?"

As Simba was about to reply, he noticed Zazu approaching from Pride Rock. The blue horn bill seemed to be in quite a hurry from what Simba could tell.

"Sire," Zazu exclaimed as he landed in between Kopa and Simba, slightly out of breath from flying so quickly.

Kopa groaned and said, "Great, just as I was about to learn something."

"Pardon the interruption my king, but I received word from a mole that a strange creature was spotted entering the Pridelands from the north," Zazu stated, still catching his breath.

Simba's tone and demeanor immediately changed.

"What type of animal exactly?" Simba asked.

"The mole didn't get a good look, sire," Zazu explained. "The only defining feature he could make out, and this might come as a bit of a shock, was that the creature was walking on two legs. I don't believe it myself, but the mole said the creature was heading towards Pride Rock."

Usually Simba handles situations like these without direct confrontation. He tends to hang back and observe any creature that enters the lands. Often times it's a rogue lion from the Outlands just looking for a drink. But with the mysterious and supposed bi-pedal creature heading towards his home, his family, Simba needed to confront it immediately.

"Zazu, I want you to rally the Guard and tell them to converge on the creatures last known location. Instruct the lionesses to warn the other animals to stay away from the northern territory until the situation is resolved," Simba instructed, his orders clear and pinpoint. "And take Kopa back with you."

"What?!" Kopa explained as Simba turned to begin making his way to intercept the creature.

"Kopa, don't argue with me," Simba sighed. "This could be a dangerous situation and I don't want to put you in harm's way."

"Come along Prince Kopa," Zazu said as he tried to shoo the young lion along.

"No," Kopa said defiantly, standing his ground. "You promised to teach me to hunt today."

Simba let out a sigh, hanging his head low. He turned around to face Kopa.

"Okay, you can come," Simba said, causing Kopa to burst with joy. Simba cut off his son's celebration, however. "But you need to promise me that you'll stay close and do exactly what I tell you to do."

"I promise, I promise," Kopa said, trying to contain his excitement.

"Okay, then follow me and stay close," Simba said as he turned back around. "Zazu, you know what to do."

The blue horn bill bowed in reply and took off into the air, flying back towards Pride Rock to rouse the Guard and the lionesses. Simba watched as Zazu flew away and then glanced at Kopa, who was now at his side. Turning his gaze forward, the king burst into a full sprint, hoping to intercept the creature before it reached Pride Rock, before it reached his family.

* * *

Bryan waded through the tall Savannah grass at a leisurely pace, not a care in the world penetrating his mind. He was still very much enamored with the sheer beauty of the land around him. It carried an atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced before. The land he had hiked during his short stay at Mahali Salama had a certain peaceful feeling attributed to it, but not on the scale of what Bryan was experiencing now.

He felt like an explorer who had arrived in a new land, one untouched by the civilization he was familiar with. In truth, he had previously believed that no such places existed on Earth anymore, considering that humanity's achievements and colonization had practically reached the ends of the Earth. But here he was, wandering through some of the greenest grass he's ever seen in a land void of any aspect of human development. It was just him and nature, a truly humbling feeling.

"I guess being stranded _here_ won't be so bad," Bryan mused.

As he continued walking, Bryan held his camera in his right hand, keeping it at the ready in case he saw anything picture worthy. Granted everything he was looking at was picture worthy, but memory cards are fickle, and as such his space for photos is limited.

The kopje, Bryan's destination, was closer now then from when he started, but still a ways off. He was close enough to where he could make out more of its features. He had noticed what appeared to be a naturally formed path winding its way up the side of the kopje. It was looking more and more like good place to wait to be rescued with each step.

Focusing on the kopje, Bryan noticed several figures approaching from its location. He couldn't make out what they were from the distance he was at, so he held his camera up to his eye to get a better look. Bryan steadied his hand as he focused the camera in on the approaching figures, using the different dials on the lens to sharpen the image.

"Oh fuck," he whispered as the image came into view.

The figures turned out to be four lions, each of which seemed to be at a running pace. Naturally, he immediately assumed it was Shetani and the other lions coming to finish the job. He immediately dropped the camera, slinging it around his neck. Bryan had kept the scavenged revolver in his back pocket. He pulled out the gun, un-clicking the cylinder chamber to make sure it was loaded.

"Six rounds, one for each of them and some to spare," he stated, a small smile creeping across his lips. "Here's hoping I can take at least Shetani."

He pushed the cylinder back into its locked position and cocked back the hammer, priming the gun to fire. The six lions were still a ways off, so he quickly began to scan his surroundings, looking for some defensible position. Standing out in the open was a death sentence, so he needed some form of high ground to gain the advantage. As he looked towards the east, Bryan let out a long groan. Two more lions were fast approaching and much closer than the other four.

"Can I not catch a god damned break?!" he exclaimed before taking off in a full sprint westward.

* * *

Simba had caught just a glimpse of the creatures face before it took off in a run in the opposite direction. For one thing, it was ugly. He had caught just a glimpse of what looked like a mane a top a caramel colored surface. It was unlike any creature he had seen before. It had baggy, multi colored skin with two odd growths protruding from what he assumed was its back. To be honest, Simba couldn't tell which was the creature's front or back. It just looked like an odd, malformed, clumsy animal. It was bipedal, like Zazu had said, but it seemed burdened by this fact. Its movements were staggered, almost as if it was limping from an injury.

"Dad, what is it?" Kopa asked, puzzled by the creature as well.

"I have no clue," Simba replied as he and Kopa continued their run towards the fleeing creature. "But regardless, we don't know its intentions. What is it doing right now?"

Kopa looked back at the odd creature and then said, "Running away?"

"Exactly. It's scared. Fear can make you do irrational things, so we have to be cautious," Simba advised. "We're going to use a flanking tactic to corner the creature. It will give both of us enough room to breathe as well as allow us to control the situation. Follow my lead, the others will do so as well."

Kopa nodded in reply as him and Simba began to take a wider berth around the creature, running at an angle to it. Simba looked towards Pride Rock and noticed Kion had begun to do the same. They had effectively formed a semi-circle and began to tighten it as they ran the creature down.

* * *

 _Damn this leg, damn these bags, and damn these lions_ , Bryan exclaimed as he tried his best to run.

The sprained ankle was definitely not helping his mobility and the weight of both the backpack and the camera bag was taking its toll on his stamina as well. In truth, he was running nowhere. The only high ground he had seen was the kopje, but that was out of the question considering that the group of lions had come from it. All he was doing now was tiring himself out. Sooner or later, the lions would catch up and take him down.

Turning his head, Bryan noticed that the group of six lions had formed a semi-circle, most likely to trap him. The situation was looking bleak with each passing second. He began to slow his pace, limping to a stop as he turned to face the approaching beasts. There was no way he would be able to take them all down before having to reload.

The lions had also slowed their pace, moving at a menacing crawl now as they began to move in on the young reporter. Bryan stood his ground, raising his revolver but not aiming it just yet. As he watched the lions move closer and closer, he began to hear a series of chuffs and growls from the largest of the six, a male lion with a fiery red mane and piercing orange eyes. Oddly enough, like the hyenas laughter, the noises the lion made began to sound increasingly human as it and the others came closer and closer.

* * *

"I said, who are you? Why are you venturing into the Pridelands?" Simba growled as he continued his approach.

The creature just stood there, its eyes darting frantically around at the others. It held an odd object in its hand, but Simba discounted it as a threat and focused more on its appearance and movements. It was even odder up close. Its multi colored, baggy skin was dotted with caramel colored splotches. He noticed what appeared to be fingers and opposable thumbs on two lanky body parts that extended from its upper body. The top of its head, well, what he assumed was its head, was round and bare of any sort of fur. In fact, its entire body lacked any sort of fur aside from thick clumps of hair lining its lower jaw and mouth. What looked like eyes were oddly colored, with white scleras and blue irises. It had a large, oddly shaped appendage in between its eyes that took up the center of its face.

"Why aren't you answering me?" Simba growled as he became further annoyed at the creatures silence.

"Maybe it's stupid," a large male lion with a dark red mane and similarly colored eyes said.

"Wouldn't surprise me, Gozi, it sure looks stupid," Jasi quipped, agreeing with Gozi.

Gozi, the lion with the dark red mane, chuckled, amused by the creatures odd appearance.

"I'll ask you one more time, who are you?!" Simba growled, practically yelling. The creature flinched but still didn't respond. It did, however, seem to realize Simba wanted it to do something and emitted several weird grunts, its mouth moving in an odd manner.

"Is it speaking?" Kopa asked. "I can't tell."

Kion, rather annoyed at the creature's silence, had had enough of the whole situation. He arched his hind legs, entering into a pouncing position. Simba had caught sight of Kion's movements and turned to face his second eldest.

"Kion, wait," the king exclaimed just as the leader of the Lion Guard pounced, claws extended to pin the creature.

* * *

It all happened in an instant. One moment, Bryan was yelling at the largest lion to make a move, and the next, a younger looking lion with a similarly colored yet shorter mane to the largest lion was pouncing at the young reporter. Driven by instinct, Bryan had raised the revolver with amazing speed, aiming it directly at the pouncing lion. His finger was already pulling the trigger as he aimed it, however the lions paws made contact just as he got a shot off.

His arm jerked the gun, sending the bullet straight through the lion's front shoulder. The thunderous clap from the small firearm echoed across the silent landscape, freezing the other lions in place. As Bryan collapsed with the lion falling on top of him, he heard what sounded like a collective of voices yelling out "Kion!" at the top of their lungs. The young reporter, however, had no time to make sense of it as when he made contact with the ground, the force of the thousand pound lion pushing him caused the back of his head to slam hard against the dirt. He was out within seconds.

* * *

The sound of thunder echoed across the land, stunning both Simba and the others. None of them others moved, each still trying to make sense of what happened.

Kopa, however, rushed over to his older brother, who laid motionless a top the fallen creature. Simba had noticed his youngest son's movements and sprang into action, running over to Kion and the creature as well.

"Kion, Kion?!" Kopa exclaimed as he clamored over the creature's body and pushed on Kion's torso.

The leader of the Guard let out a loud cry.

"Agh, my shoulder! Oh fuck, I'm bleeding! What the hell was that?!" he cried as he began to writhe in pain, rolling off of the knocked out creature and onto the dirt ground.

Kopa turned to see Simba running towards Kion and backed away, turning his focus to the fallen mystery creature. As Simba approached, he caught a glimpse of Kion's wound. Whatever the creature did certainly did a number on Kion's shoulder. Simba was no doctor and thus couldn't tell the condition of the wound, but he knew someone who could.

"Jasi, Leo," Simba called, his voice becoming frantic and staggered. "Go get Rafiki! Now! Hurry!"

Leo and Jasi nodded in reply and made haste to Rafiki's residence, a large baobab tree near the water hole. Gozi, on the other hand, already knew how to help. He approached the fallen creature, extending his claws and resting his right paw against its throat.

"What should we do with it?" Gozi asked, waiting for the command to slit its throat.

"It's alright Kion, we're taking you back to Pride Rock so you can get help," Simba comforted his second eldest as he pushed his head under the injured Kion and lifted him up onto his back. The leader of the Guard was beginning to slip in and out of consciousness, his wails turning into staggered mumbles as blood continued to seep from the wound.

"My King?" Gozi asked again.

"No, we're taking him back with us so he can answer for his crimes," Simba said gravely as he made sure Kion was secure upon his back. "Kopa, stay with Gozi and help him take this…this thing back to our home."

Kopa nodded, trying to hold back tears.

"Is…is Kion going to be alright?" the young prince asked.

Simba sighed, unsure of what to say.

"I hope so," is all he could muster as he took a quick glance at Kopa before sprinting back towards Pride Rock. "I hope so."

* * *

 **UPDATE, HO! Howdy folks, I'm back with another exciting addition to the story. Looks like Bryan's made an excellent first impression, what with shooting the prince and all.**

 **I'm rather happy with how this chapter turned out. It's kept the air of mystery surrounding Bryan's latent ability intact, but I assure you, said ability shall be in full effect in the next chapter. A quick thing I'd like to ask: How was the constant line breaks? I did this in order to show a change in perspective (from Bryan's to the Pridelanders). I don't plan on making that a common thing and will most likely take on a 3rd person omniscient narrative style for the rest of the story. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this.**

 **Other than that, I hope you enjoyed! Remember to review, follow, and fave!**

 **JacksonMW**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter VII

"What do you think it is?" Kopa asked Gozi as he watched the older male sling the creature across his back.

"No idea, Prince Kopa," Gozi replied as he began to walk back to Pride Rock. "But if I had my way, it'd be dead right now."

Kopa nodded solemnly in reply. The creature, whatever it was, hurt his older brother. But oddly enough, the young prince didn't really feel any sort of hate towards the malformed creature. In the back of the young cubs mind, he knew Kion would make a full recovery. Whether it be the ignorance of youth or youthful curiosity, Kopa had a feeling the creature was only acting in self-defense. He couldn't blame it for doing so either. Like his father had observed, the creature was afraid. If Kopa had been in the creature's situation, he probably would have done the same thing.

As Kopa trotted alongside Gozi, he began to look over the creature, taking into account everything about its appearance. To put it plainly, it was unlike anything he had ever seen in the Pridelands before. It's "fur", or at least what he thought was its fur, was multicolored. It ranged from white to a light brown color to a dark blue. The fact that it walked on two legs with its back completely straight was odd as well. The only creature he had seen do that was the mandrill Rafiki, but only on a few occasions.

"You were very brave, my Prince," Gozi stated, his gaze locked on Pride Rock as the two lions continued there trek back.

"Uh, I really didn't do anything though," Kopa replied sheepishly. "Kion was the one who actually did something."

Gozi chuckled.

"Oh your brother definitely did something. Something stupid," Gozi said. "But while we all stood in shock when he went down, you were the only one to run over and check on him. The creature could have still be conscious, ready to attack again, but were only focused on your brother's well-being. That's the sign of a leader, my Prince."

Kopa looked up at the gruff Gozi, who turned and gave the Prince a comforting smile.

"I'm proud of you, and I'm sure your father is too," he said.

"Thanks Gozi," Kopa smiled. "And don't worry, Kion will be alright. I know he will."

Gozi chuckled again, saying, "Oh so do I. That idiots been in worse situations before, but he always pulls through. I'd be more concerned with what Simba will do with this thing."

"Yeah," Kopa said as he looked back at the slump creature on Gozi's back with curiosity.

It took the pair of lions several more minutes before they were climbing the rocky path that wound its way up Pride Rock. A large commotion could be heard from inside one of the several caves that lined the path. As Kopa and Gozi approached, the others inside the cave must have heard their approach for Nala, Kiara, and several other lionesses came rushing out.

"Where is it?!" Nala growled, her eyes blinded by motherly fury.

She noticed the creature slumped over Gozi's back and practically leapt at the startled lion. Gozi dared to not get in Nala's way and gladly gave the creature over to her. The furious lioness grabbed the creature by the neck, her teeth nearly puncturing its skin. She proceeded to drag it into the cave like a freshly killed antelope, it's "fur" dragging along the rocky ground. The other lionesses followed the enraged queen while Kiara rushed over to Kopa.

"Kopa, are you hurt?!" Kiara exclaimed, rushing over to her little brother and nuzzling him affectionately.

"I'm fine Kiara," the young prince replied. "How's Kion? Is Rafiki here yet?"

"Kion's getting worse," the eldest daughter replied, her voice shaky and weary, as her and Kopa, followed by Gozi, made their way back into the cave. "We're trying to stop the bleeding, but it keeps coming and coming."

The scene inside the cave was complete chaos. Kion was sprawled out on a large flat rock with Kovu standing over the unconscious prince, applying pressure to the still bleeding wound in hopes of buying time before Rafiki could make it to the cave. Blood was slowly trickling from the hole shaped wound, running down Kion's arm and onto the floor of the cave. Simba stood between Nala and the creature, who was now slumped against the far wall of the cave. Nala and several other lions looked ready to tear the creature's throat out as Simba tried to explain that the creature would be receiving a fair trial.

"Gozi?" Kiara asked. "Do you know what happened?"

"I'm still trying to make sense of it myself, Princess Kiara," Gozi replied. "The creature used some object or device to create fire, smoke, and thunder. Kion was charging the creature but was brought down by the creature's device. He managed to knock the creature unconscious but was hit with whatever it used."

"Kiara," Kovu exclaimed. "Come over here and help me stop the bleeding!"

"I'm coming," she replied before turning to Kopa. "I'm glad you're safe little bro."

Kiara nuzzled Kopa again before rushing over to Kion and Kovu. She too pressed both paws down onto the wound, slowing the flow of blood that continued to trickle from the wound.

Not sure if he could do anything to help, Kopa entered the cave and walked back over to the creature. Nala and Simba were too busy arguing to notice the small cub waltz between them to get another close look at the creature. The young cub drowned out the clamoring voices, his attention solely focused on the unconscious creature. It was even more bizarre up close. Its neck, or what he assumed was its neck, had faint bite marks from his mother. Bits of dark colored fur lined its mouth and jaw but ended abruptly towards the top of its head. He looked down at its two odd appendages that ran parallel to its body and noticed hands with four smaller appendages and an opposable thumb. The opposable thumb further attributed the similarities between Rafiki and the creature, but only by a little bit. The creature before him still lacked any sort of tail or thick fur coating like Rafiki.

Cautiously, the young prince extended his right paw to touch the creatures face. As his paw made contact with the creatures face, a loud moan erupted from its mouth.

"It's waking up," Kopa exclaimed, jerking his hand back as the creature began to stir, its head slowly moving side to side.

The constant clamoring in the room ceased as all attention shifted to the waking creature.

* * *

The voices Bryan had been hearing suddenly stopped as he groaned several times, his eyes slowly fluttering open.

"Who's making all that noise," he groaned.

"Oh so now it decides to speak," a gruff, male voice stated.

"Decided, what do you-JESUS FUCKING CHRIST," the young reported exclaimed, his yes now open and darting around the room.

He was surrounded by lions, completely and utterly surrounded. What's even worse, they could speak apparently. His movements became erratic as he clambered up onto his feet, the pain from his sprained ankle going completely unnoticed as he found himself cornered against a wall.

"What the fuck is going on!? Where am I?! Why are there so many lions!? Am I dead?! Is this Hell?!" Bryan exclaimed, his mouth moving a mile a minute as the lions closest to him took a step back, alarmed by his erratic movements.

"You better start explaining yourself real quick you son of a bitch," a lioness with light blue eyes snarled, her large teeth glistening in the sun.

"Me-expla-EXPLAIN WHAT?!" Bryan exclaimed again. "I'm the one surrounded by talking lions! Lions aren't supposed to talk! If anything, I need an explanation as to what the fucks going on here!"

"You know perfectly well what you did," another lioness with amber eyes said from across the room. "Explain why you did whatever you did to Kion!"

Bryan looked over in the lioness's direction, noting that it looked similar to the blue eyed one. He saw that it and another lion, this one a male with brown fur and a black mane were standing over another lion, their paws plugging some sort of wound. The reporter recalled what happened before he had been knocked out, remembering a similar looking lion charging him and his revolver going off.

"What, shoot him? It was in self-defense! That mother fucker charged me! Am I seriously about to argue the stand-your-ground law to a bunch of lions," Bryan stated as he quickly glanced around for some way out of the situation.

"That 'mother fucker' is my son and prince of these lands," a large male lion with a bright red mane and amber eyes stated as he stepped towards Bryan. "And you've possibly killed him, making your situation a whole lot worse. As King, I could end your life right now, but I've had the decency to let you speak on your actions, so…SPEAK!"

The lion loomed over Bryan and practically roared the final line of the sentence. The now terrified reporter shrunk down back to the floor as the male lion barred his teeth.

"This is your last chance, explain yourself," it said through clenched teeth.

Bryan wanted to speak, he wanted to do something, but he completely froze as the lion continued to inch closer and closer to his face. A low, rumbling growl began to slip through the lion's clenched teeth as it was mere inches away from Bryan. The young reporter, mustering his strength and pushing past his fear, was about to speak when several loud thuds echoed throughout the cave.

Everyone in the cave immediately turned towards the entrance. Standing in a hunch position with a large stick leaning against the wall was an older looking mandrill. Behind the mandrill was two other lions.

"Simba, step away from the human," the mandrill spoke, its voice calm and soothing but still forceful.

The lion who had been looming over Bryan, Simba as he was called, immediately backed off. The young reporter let out a sigh of relief and began to inch his way off the ground.

"Come here human, Rafiki will need your help," the mandrill, Rafiki, stated, beckoning to Bryan.

Bryan nodded in reply and slowly walked over to Rafiki, who was now standing over Kion, the lion he had shot. The lions in the cave all became hushed as they watched Bryan walk on two legs with ease, a sight none of them had expected to see. As Bryan approached Rafiki, the mandrill wrapped his arm around Bryan, leading him over to Kion.

"Do you have a name?" he asked. "Say it loud enough so everyone else can hear."

"B-Bryan Anderson," Bryan stated, nervously glancing around at the lions in the cave.

Rafiki approached the black maned lion and the amber eyed lioness that had been tending to Kion and motioned them away. They obliged and stepped off of the rock. The black maned lion growled at Bryan as he walked by, sending a shiver down his spine.

Kion, the lion Bryan had shot, was still slipping in and out of consciousness. The bullet wound wasn't as bad as he had previously thought either. It looked as if the full metal jacket round had grazed the lion's shoulder rather than pierce the flesh. It was still a gnarly wound, but it didn't seem that any bone or significant amount of muscle tissue was damaged. The only real trouble was the bleeding, which continued at a slow trickle.

Looking over at Rafiki, Bryan noticed the mandrill lower his large walking stick. Tied to the top of it were several different gourds. He watched as Rafiki looked over each gourd before plucking a small, pear shaped gourd off its string. A cork was punched into the top of the gourd to hold whatever was inside. Rafiki pulled of the cork, causing an alcohol-like odor to exit the gourd. The mandrill tipped the gourd upside down, holding out his hand to catch the contents. A thick, syrup like liquid began to dribble out of the small opening and onto Rafiki's waiting hand. He gathered an amount that looked to be about the size of a quarter before he set the gourd down on the ground upright.

"Hold open the wound so Rafiki can spread the medicine," the mandrill instructed as he held the brown liquid in his hand.

Hesitant, Bryan gently placed his hands around the wound. The fur, though drenched in blood, was quite soft. He began to slowly stretch open the wound, causing blood to bubble up and flow slightly faster. As Bryan did this, Kion let out a long, low moan, prompting the light blue eyed lioness to growl in anger.

"Simba, are we really just letting this thing touch our son after what it did?" the lioness growled, her human-like cat eyes narrowed at Bryan.

Simba kept silent, his eyes locked on the "human".

"Ugh, ew," Bryan complained as he held the wound open.

"Oh hush," Rafiki said sternly as he lowered his hand containing the "medicine" onto the open bullet wound.

Upon contact with the bloodied flesh and tissue, the once viscous brown liquid immediately filled the space of the bullet wound and hardened into a thick, jello like state. The bleeding immediately stopped as the strange "medicine" puffed out slightly, much like a sealant used for plumbing.

"Amazing," Bryan said softly as he turned to look at Rafiki. "How did you learn to do that?"

Rafiki chuckled.

"Rafiki has learned many things, Bryan. Now tell us, why are you here in the Pridelands?" the mandrill asked, his voice conveying a sense of trust and understanding.

Bryan laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I-uh…heh, excuse me if I'm a bit hesitant. Not really used to being around talking lions," he stuttered. "I'm a photo journalist from the United States of America. I was out on an… expedition when my jeep broke down. I was, uh…off the path that I had informed the authorities on, so I needed to find shelter until I could be rescued. I kinda just stumbled into the…Pridelands? What is that?"

"Explanations will come later. Could you tell Rafiki why you injured the Prince here," Rafiki asked with the same tone of voice.

"I was just minding my business and then I found six of you guys running me down. Running is kind of hard for me at the moment, considering I have a sprained ankle, so I decided to stand my ground. I figured I was gonna die anyways, so better to go out with a bang, I guess," Bryan explained, looking around at the lions. "It was self-defense, I swear. All I want to do now is get on my way."

Rafiki nodded slowly after Bryan had finished speaking.

"Did you understand any of that?" Gozi whispered to Simba.

"Not really," Simba replied, his gaze still locked on Bryan.

"Now, my friend, could you step outside while Rafiki talks with the King?" the mandrill asked as he turned Bryan towards the cave's entrance.

"I mean, I guess," Bryan agreed as he began to walk out of the cave.

Simba finally spoke up, saying, "Leo, Jasi, accompany the Bryan and wait till we come and get you."

Leo, a leanly built lion with a dark brown mane, light brown fur, and dark purple eyes, came up to Bryan's right side. Jasi, a lioness who looked a lot like Leo but had magenta eyes, took up the left side of Bryan. The two led the young reporter out of the cave and off to the side, a little ways out of ear shot so the older lions could talk in solitude.

* * *

"Rafiki," Simba began. "You know what he is?"

Rafiki nodded, saying, "Yes. Bryan is a human, a species that lives well beyond the boundary of the Pridelands. Rafiki has had very little interaction with humans, but he does know they are a very unpredictable animal. His appearance concerns Rafiki. A human has never set foot in the Pridelands, well until now at least. Rafiki shall have to look into this more."

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but what should we do with him?" Kovu asked.

The others in the cave murmured in agreement, each lion mostly saying they should let him go on his way

"That is up to the king," Rafiki stated as he made his way to the cave's entrance.

"Wait, where are you going? What if Kion gets worse?" Nala asked, still unsure about her son's condition.

"The prince shall recover just fine, Queen Nala," Rafiki said. "Now, if you'll excuse Rafiki, he has yoga to get back too."

On that note, the mandrill let out a rather unsettling laugh before bounding out of the cave.

* * *

Outside of the cave, Bryan sat slumped against the wall, dragging a stick in the dirt. Leo and Jasi sat in front of the downtrodden reporter, both of them looking Bryan over.

"Talking lions. And I thought I'd seen everything," Bryan huffed to himself.

"Do lions not talk where you're from?" Leo asked, his keen hearing picking up on Bryan's comment.

Bryan looked up, not expecting the two lions to be paying attention to him.

"Oh, well no. No animal talks," he replied.

"Well, you sound a lot like a lion whenever you speak," Leo stated. "Before, though, when you did whatever you did to Kion, you were making weird grunts and grumbling noises."

Leo had brought up an interesting point. To Bryan, the lions and the mandrill all sounded like they were speaking English. To them, however, Bryan sounded like another animal. It's as if something happened, perhaps being hit on the head so many times caused it, to give Bryan this super-power like ability. He's never been able talk to animals before now. Whatever it was, it opened up a whole new world of opportunities for the young reporter.

"So, uh, what do you think they're talking about?" Bryan asked, trying to strike up an ongoing conversation.

"Probably how best to eat you," Jasi quipped, licking her lips while shooting Bryan a menacing glare.

Bryan gulped loudly and tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"Relax, I was only joking," Jasi said. "Simba's a good king. He wouldn't off someone who didn't deserve it. Well, you do kind of deserve it for injuring Kion. Anyways, you'll probably be banished from the Pridelands, facing the penalty of death if you ever return."

Jasi flashed a toothy grin at Bryan upon finishing her explanation. Bryan didn't know which was worse, the previous predatory glare or the eerily human-like smile. He gave the lioness a courtesy chuckle before going back to playing in the dirt, biding his time until he was called back into the cave.

"What'd you say your name was?" Leo asked, inching closer to the young reporter.

"Bryan Anderson, but you can just call me Bryan," he replied, looking up at the two lions again.

"You have two names?" Jasi asked.

Bryan chuckled and said, "Not really. Bryan is the name my parents gave me and Anderson is my family name. It's a human thing, I guess. You two are Leo and Jasi, right?"

The two lions nodded.

"And you're brother and sister?" he added.

"Is it that obvious?" Jasi asked Bryan, letting out a groan.

Bryan nodded and said, "Pretty much, yeah. You both have the same pelt color and roughly the same eye color."

"Speaking of fur, what's up with yours?" Leo asked, moving his paw towards Bryan's shirt sleeve.

Bryan immediately jerked his arm back, causing Leo to do so as well.

"Sorry," Bryan apologized. "Not really used to one of the meanest carnivores acting like this. But yeah, this isn't 'fur', per say. It's just clothing to cover up my skin. Humans don't have thick fur pelts like other animals, so we need clothes to cover us up from the elements. We have hair, but it only covers our head, or in my case my jawline."

The two lions, upon hearing the explanation for the multi colored "fur", began to make the distinction between the baggy articles of clothing and Bryan's sun tanned skin.

"Humans," Jasi repeated, the completely foreign word rolling off her tongue. "Are there other Humans?"

"Oh yeah, there's loads of us. Seven billion now, actually," Bryan explained, finding it easier to talk to the two lions.

"S-s-seven billion?!" the two lions exclaimed, their minds barely able to comprehend such a large number of animals, let alone a foreign species.

"Where do they all live?" Leo asked, becoming increasingly intrigued by Bryan.

"All over the place. We pretty much inhabit all seven continents of Earth," Bryan replied.

"Continents?" the two lions said in unison again.

Bryan suddenly realized how hard it was going to be to explain human culture to not only Jasi and Leo, but every other lion who wanted to know. It was like teaching a bunch of three year olds, only these three year olds could rip you to shreds at any moment.

He was about to delve into a shortened explanation of the world's structure, understanding that these lions might not know land exists outside of where they live, but a voice, originating from the cave, called for them to return.

Bryan, Jasi, and Leo sat up and walked back along the path, turning the corner and entering the cave. The lions inside turned their heads to face Bryan as Leo and Jasi walked back into their fold, giving one last look at Bryan. Standing at the entrance to the cave, Bryan stood still, waiting to hear what was going to become of him.

Simba stepped forth from the crowd, who formed a semi-circle around the lone human and sat down, his sitting height equal to Bryan's standing height.

"Bryan Anderson," Simba bellowed, his voice loud and commanding. "You come into our lands, injury my son, and now await my sentencing. Normally, if you were any other animal, such actions would be punishable by banishment or death. However, seeing as you acted in self-defense and no serious harm shall befall Prince Kion, your punishment shall be different. Though we are not all in agreement and many would rather see you leave our lands, or worse, I have decided to keep you here in the Pridelands under our supervision until such a time that I deem you worthy enough to leave."

A low murmur echoed throughout the crowd of lions. Bryan's heart sank in his chest upon hearing his "punishment". Sure he got to live, but now he's a prisoner of war to a bunch of talking lions.

"Well you might as well just kill me," Bryan said, letting out a huff.

"Don't tempt me," Simba said coldly. "Until such a time that you prove yourself, you shall be seen as a prisoner. You are to stay within the boundary of Pride Rock, unless otherwise accompanied by a member of the Lion Guard or someone I deem fit. Any attempt to flee shall result in your removal from the Pridelands, permanently."

As Simba finished his decree, Bryan was trying to find something, anything to say. He had gone from a free man to a prisoner of talking lions. It sounded like something from a bad fiction novel, but the young reporter was now these lion's prisoner.

"You are to stay here tonight until we find suitable accommodations for your stay. Princess Kiara and her mate, Kovu, shall keep guard tonight. I will bring down a cut of our kill later tonight for your dinner," Simba concluded as he and the other lions began to walk out of the cave, pushing past the frozen human.

As the pride of lions exited the cave, Bryan stood in the same spot, the full gravity of his situation weighing on his mind.

"Welcome to the Pridelands," Simba said before he was out of sight.

* * *

 **Well, things could have gone a lot worse! This is the first full chapter featuring both Bryan and the Pridelanders in one location, so let me know your thoughts and/or concerns. Other than that, I don't really have much to say.**

 **You guys rock!**

 **JacksonMW**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII

Bryan sat alone in the cave. Kion had been moved out with the rest of the Pride, and his guards, Kiara and Kovu, were just outside the entrance of the cave. The only light that illuminated the otherwise dark cave came from the afternoon sun. He estimated it had been a couple hours since his capture, as he was calling it. The whole situation was rather ironic to the human. Rather than the lions being the captured animals, Bryan was now the one stuck behind the bars.

He looked down at his left ankle, noticing a fair amount of swelling and bruising from sprain. For all he knows, it could have worsened from the encounter this morning. Hopefully his captors would be kind enough to let him receive some sort of treatment from Rafiki, the only animal who's shown any sort of kindness towards him. Sure Leo and Jasi talked to him while awaiting his sentence, but the young lions seemed curious if anything. They haven't come around since, making Bryan feel all the better about his situation.

As he looked over his swollen ankle, he suddenly remembered that he had a satellite phone in his pocket. He had completely forgotten about the phone and cursed at himself for not having the common sense to use it earlier. His backpack and camera bag were leaning against the wall to his right, both still relatively intact. Bryan held his breath as he unzipped his backpack and dug around for the phone, praying that it hadn't been damaged in any of the falls he's taken. Much to his relief, he found the phone amidst his gear in one piece.

"Thank you Jesus," he exclaimed softly, kissing the satellite phone multiple times.

It was an older flip phone model that ran off of a satellite rather than cell towers. The company claimed it could get reception anywhere on Earth, but Bryan has never actually had a reason to use it until now. With a flick of his wrist, the phone popped open, its plain LED screen casting a dull light onto his body. Rescue was only at the push of a button now, if not for the no signal text that pulsed on the screen at regular intervals.

Bryan's hear sank a little, but he quickly remembered that he was surrounded by layers of rock. He wouldn't be making a calls from inside the cave, but the young reporter reckoned that if he could find a way to the top of the kopje, or "Pride Rock" as it was called, he could get the signal he so desperately needed.

"What are you holding?" a young sounding voice asked, startling the young reporter.

He nearly dropped the phone as he fumbled to stuff it into his pocket and find the source of the voice. Standing at the entrance of the cave was a lion cub, its head tilted curiously. The cub looked rather similar to Kion and Simba. It sported the same colored fur and eyes but had a small tuft of brown hair a top its head.

"Wha-oh-uh-heh nothing of importance," Bryan said sheepishly. He wasn't sure if the lions would understand what a phone was, but he didn't want to take any chances.

The cub shrugged and walked into the cave.

"Can I help you out kid?" Bryan asked as he watched the cub take a seat a few feet in front of him.

"No, I just wanted to come see how you were doing," the cub said with a smile. "My names Kopa by the way. Yours is Bryan Andeson?"

"An _der_ son," Bryan corrected. "But just call me Bryan. Or human. Or prisoner, since that's technically what I am."

"Not too happy about that huh," Kopa said softly.

Bryan shook his head.

"I don't like being caged up like some animal. Small spaces make me uncomfortable," he protested. "Besides, it's not like I meant to hurt uh…Kion, yeah that's it. He attacked me first."

"Yeah, my brother can be a bit head strong sometimes. But that's why dad made him the leader of the Guard, I think," Kopa replied, his voice now louder and more friendly.

"Wait, brother? Does that make you Simba's kid?" Bryan asked, trying to connect the dots on the cub's similar appearance.

Kopa nodded proudly saying, "That also makes me Prince. And one day, I'm gonna be the best hunter in our Pride!"

The cub crouched down on the stone floor and pounced at Bryan's shoe playfully, latching onto the loose hanging laces. Bryan chuckled lightly, amused by Kopa's youthful energy.

"What exactly is this?" Kopa asked, pawing at the hard leather boot.

"It's called a shoe," Bryan said, pulling the foot closer to his body to pull it off. "It protects my feet when I walk.

Kopa looked the boot over, gently pawing at it. He pounced on it again, his nose coming close to the mouth of the shoe, giving him a nice whiff of sweaty boot. The cub recoiled in disgust, pushing the boot away and falling over, bringing a bought of laughter from Bryan.

"That's DISGUSTING," Kopa exclaimed, wiping his nose.

"Well, that's what happens when my sweaty feet are stuck in there for a few days," Bryan stated in between his laughter.

"Hoomans are weird," Kopa said as he walked back over to the boot to look at it some more. "Where did you even come from? I heard dad say that he's never heard of humans before, and dad knows everything since he's the king."

Bryan chuckled again and said, "Sorry to burst your bubble Kopa, but there's a lot of things your dad doesn't know."

"Like what?" Kopa frowned, curious to hear Bryan's response.

"I told Leo and Jasi this earlier, but there's actually seven billion humans on Earth. We inhabit almost every inch of the planet, save for here and Antarctica. Speaking of Antarctica, it's a land completely covered in ice and snow. It's in the middle of the ocean, a vast expanse of nothing except salty water that houses all sorts of fish and other strange creatures. Heck, there's a whole bunch of stuff outside of these lands, like huge mountain ranges that stretch as far as the eye can see. Vast seas of grass and rolling hills. Huge tracts of land covered with nothing but sand. Gigantic forests filled with trees and other plants, and animals too. And that's only on Earth," Bryan exclaimed, using eccentric hand motions to hammer in his point. "There's a whole universe filled with different planets, whole different worlds than ours."

All the while Bryan was speaking, Kopa's eyes became wider and wider as a whole new world opened up in front of his eyes. He could barely even comprehend some of the places Bryan was describing, his mind becoming filled with images of the different climates and places Bryan mentioned.

"So where did you come from?!" Kopa exclaimed, interrupting Bryan's tale. He was eager to hear where the young reporter originated from after hearing about only a fraction of what Earth held.

"Oh me, I'm from the United States of America, one of the hundreds of different countries that humans created and reside in," he replied, caught off guard by the sudden outburst.

The cub, completely blown away, could only muster a drawn out "wow" in response.

"Now that I've told you some stuff about me and where I come from, how 'bout you return the favor?" Bryan asked.

"Okay, sounds fair. What do you want to know?" Kopa replied, still in awe over what Bryan said.

"First off, how many lions are in the pride?" Bryan asked, trying to gauge his chances of escape.

Kopa thought for a moment before replying.

"A lot," the cub said.

Bryan huffed and then asked, "Good enough, I guess. What about the uh…Lion Guard? What is that? Is it like a police force or something?"

"I don't know what a police force is, but the Lion Guard was established to keep order in the Pridelands and serve as an extension of the king's will," Kopa recited, recalling his lessons from Simba.

 _So it's like a Royal Guard_ , Bryan thought. _Damn, that means they probably go out on patrols. Escape doesn't seem like a viable option._

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Kopa asked, picking up on Bryan's thinking. "Dad can answer your questions better than me. I could go get him if you'd like."

"Oh no, no, that won't be necessary," Bryan stammered, snapping out of his thinking upon hearing Kopa's offer.

"Okay, well I've got to get going. Zazu's probably looking for me," Kopa stated as he sat up and began to walk out of the cave. "It was nice to meet you Bryan."

Bryan smiled.

"Nice to meet you too Kopa. And thanks for taking the time to actually get to know me," the young reporter said. "Oh and…I'm sorry for hurting your brother."

Kopa was slightly shocked to hear Bryan apologize. He had come off as rather defensive of his actions, making the cub think Bryan wasn't actually sorry for what he had done.

Before exiting the cave, Kopa smiled and nodded at Bryan, accepting the human's apology. When the cub was out of sight, Bryan pulled the phone from his pocket, holding it out in his hand. He stared at it intensively for several minutes before letting out a sigh.

"I guess waiting a few days won't hurt," he stated out loud as he stuffed the phone back into his backpack.

* * *

"Where are we going Simba?" Kovu asked as he, Gozi, and Simba continued to walk towards the Elephant Graveyard. "You said you wanted to investigate where we found the human, but we're well past the border of the Pride Lands now."

"Just following up on something. A hunch, you could say," Simba replied as he scanned the horizon while continuing forward.

"I'm not one to question your motives, but why are we going into the Elephant Graveyard?" Kovu continued.

"I too would like a bit more of an explanation, my King," Gozi said, noticing a change in the terrain as they inched closer and closer to the graveyard.

As the three lions continued to walk, Simba said, "Yesterday I was dealing with a dispute between two herds up near where the Elephant Graveyard spills into the Pridelands. Nothing was out of the ordinary, until I heard the same sound that the human's weapon made to the north. It was distant, so I thought nothing of it, thinking it was just thunder. After today's events, I want to know what exactly happened before his arrival in the Pridelands."

"We heard whatever that sound was back at Pride Rock today as well," Kovu added, connecting the dots. "Kind of a thunderish boom, but more sudden and drawn out, right?"

"Exactly," Simba said.

"And a little more deafening, and dangerous, up close," Gozi quipped, prompting Simba to shoot a quick glare at the amused lion.

Gozi cleared his throat.

"Sorry, my King, just lightening the mood," he apologized.

"And besides, you two have noticed the scent we've been following, right?" Simba asked, seeing the two others nod their heads. "It was all over that lone tree back there and smells just like the human. And judging by the trail of his scent, the human has come from the Elephant Graveyard."

The three lions continued their walk along the border of the graveyard, keeping their keen senses open for any incoming threats. They were well beyond the boundaries of the Pridelands, giving them no authority what so ever.

In the distance, Simba noticed an oddly shaped object sitting on the border of the graveyard. He at first thought it was a rock, however he noticed that when the sun shone down on it, portions of the object reflected the bright sun light.

"What is that?" Kovu asked, noticing the bright object as well as they continued their approach at a slower pace. "It looks like a bright rock."

Kovu's observation went ignored as the group slowed their approach to a crawl, their powerful bodies down low to the ground. The strange shiny object slowly became clearer to the three lions, prompting them to relax their posture. They were not, however, relaxed. The object itself was foreign to the three. It appeared to be a metallic rectangle that was hollowed out. Bits of a strange, soft black material laid on the ground next to four round cylinders that were positioned on each side of the object. Around the object were other debris as well, all of them foreign to the three lions.

"This is…weird," Gozi remarked as he felt the object with one of his paws, noticing its warm temperature and smooth surface. "The human was all over whatever this thing was, along with…two others I think."

Simba approached the object and sniffed several times, picking up not only Bryan's scent, but two other's as well. The king immediately became more worried about Bryan's intentions. He had failed to mention any other comrades who had accompanied him, leading Simba to think about the possibility of an attack or something of the sorts by the three humans. His brow furrowed as he continued to look over the strange object.

"Simba," Kovu exclaimed, drawing the king's attention. "I've picked up the human's scent over here. It looks like they entered the graveyard."

Simba and Gozi walked over to Kovu. The three were standing on the edge of the graveyard itself, a small slope separating them from its muddy ground. As they stood looking over the barren expanse of death, a light wind blew in from the graveyard, carrying the smell of blood and decay.

"You smell that?" Gozi asked. "Smells like a carcass with the human's scent mixed in."

"Yeah, but which one?" Kovu asked.

"Obviously not the one we have back at Pride Rock," Gozi stated. "But whatever it is, it smells dead."

Another gust of wind wafted the smell of decay over the three lions, this one much stronger than the first. Simba looked over the graveyard for a few more minutes, trying to pinpoint the location of the decaying carcass, before jumping down the small incline and entering the graveyard. Gozi and Kovu followed, keeping on the lookout for hyenas and any other animal that might reside within the graveyard.

As Simba moved along a narrow path bordered by mounds of bones, he noticed strange footprints in the muddy ground. There were three pairs of oblong shaped prints, each one a different size than the other. They were unlike any other type of print he had seen before, leading him to equate the three prints to the three humans. He also noticed the smell of death become increasingly stronger as they moved along the path in single file.

The narrow path led into a small clearing that was surrounded by the long standing piles of bones. At this point, the stench of a freshly dead animal was almost overpowering. The three lions, while used to the occasional nasty smell in the Pridelands, were somewhat unsettled by the smell. It wasn't the fact that it was the smell of a corpse, but more so the fact that it was the smell of an unknown corpse.

They soon found the source of the stench, however. Laying in the center of the clearing were the remains of what Simba and the other three assumed to be two more humans. All that remained, however, were pieces of their bloodied skeletons, picked clean of any flesh, which resided in a dried pool of blood and numerous other fluids. It was quite a grizzly scene, one that Simba and the two others had only seen on the rare occasion of a hyena incursion into the Pridelands.

"Hyena's" Kovu growled as he approached the remains. "It's always hyenas."

"This complicates things," Simba said, his mood more solemn and almost sympathetic to their human's plight.

Gozi and Kovu turned to face Simba, confused at the sudden change of mood in their King.

"How so, my King?" Gozi inquired. "In all actuality, the hyenas were within their territory. Besides, they could have done us a favor by getting rid of these other two humans."

Simba sighed.

"Imagine yourself in the human's predicament, Gozi. They were in an unfamiliar place, unaware of the danger that entering this graveyard invoked. You saw how defenseless the human who injured Kion was once we apprehended him. That weapon he had, that device, when it was taken away, he was about as helpless as a wounded antelope. And a wounded antelope against a pack of hyenas doesn't stand a chance."

"Are you asking that we resend our punishment on the human, that you resend it? Are you saying we should show a creature that wounded one of your kin, nearly killed him, compassion?" Gozi protested, his voice raising with each word.

"I have yet to decide exactly what to do with this new information, Gozi," Simba snapped, his gaze set on Gozi. "And you shall do well to trust that I will do what is right for the Pride, no matter what."

Gozi hung his head low, "Apologies, my king. I never meant to question your authority."

Simba turned towards Kovu, who was investigating the remains.

"Kovu, do you have anything to say on the matter?" Simba asked.

Kovu looked up and shook his head.

"Not anything at the moment. I'll stand by your side in whatever decision you make," the young lion replied.

Nodding in reply, Simba turned and said, "Let's head back. We'll figure out what to do with the human when we arrive at Priderock."

The other two lions nodded in reply and began to file out of the clearing, with Simba taking up the rear of the single file line. As he followed behind Kovu, Simba felt one of his front paws step down into a divot in the muddy ground. He looked down, his eyes becoming wide as he lifted his front paw. He looked at the muddy ground, his mind racing. His eyes darted forwards and backwards, along the ground, scanning the terrain. Simba looked back towards Kovu and Gozi, who were continuing back down the narrow path, and then looked back to the ground. The king cursed under his breath and continued forward, the gears in his head turning at full force.

* * *

 **I'm back!**

 **Sorry for the uber long wait between chapters. School got kind of crazy towards the end of last semester, leaving me wiped out over the break. Now that this semester has leveled out into a smooth schedule, I'm back in the saddle. Expect to see more timely updates to this story and any others I happen to writing**

 **Stay sexy readers!**

 **-JacksonMW**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter IX

The African sun was now much lower in the sky. It was still a few more hours until nightfall, but the sun had begun to cast long, sweeping shadows across the grass. A symphony of sounds slowly trickled in from the outside world and into the now dimly lit cave, letting its lone occupant still know he was in the world.

As he had said early, Bryan does not do well in confined spaces for long periods of time, especially if he is a hostage of talking lions. The confinement was starting to get to him. He found himself restless, unable to close his eyes or evens sit still for more than a few minutes. All he wanted was to get the hell out of the cave. He knew he had no chance in escape with the loss of his revolver and the condition of his leg. He had entertained the idea of simply asking one of the lions, a phrase he was still not used to saying, if he could get some fresh air, but their hostile mood was still evident.

About an hour ago he had noticed Kovu, Gozi, and Simba walk past the cave entrance as they climbed the kopje. Simba and Kovu payed him no mind, keeping their gaze focused on the path ahead. Gozi, however, peered into the cave, his bright amber eyes figuratively popping out against the shadow he cast over the low lying sun. Bryan had heard a low growl come from the lion as he peered into the cave, his eyes locked on the young human. They had held each other's gaze until Gozi rounded the corner and continued up the kopje. The short interaction served to remind Bryan how defenseless he really was in this situation. Contrary to the phrase, he was a sheep among wolves, or lions in this case.

To help pass the time, Bryan had decided to organize whatever personal items he still had in his backpack or on his person. The packaging of his water purifying tablets had become crumbled, most likely crushing some of the tablets. His lighter, flint, and matches were still intact along with his now empty canteen, satellite phone, knife, and the various camera accessories. The few granola bars he had snatched from the wreckage of the jeep had already been consumed, their wrappers shoved in a corner of the cave. He also still had the box of .44 magnum rounds, but they were useless without a gun to fire them from. At most, he thought, he could toss them at some attacking beast and hope it would buy him enough time to make peace with a divine entity.

"If we were intended to survive in the wilderness, they could have at least made it a bit easier," Bryan huffed as he surveyed his remaining supplies.

He had thought he had prepared enough for the possibility of being stranded in the wilderness, but now that he actually is, Bryan has realized that no amount of preparation could have prepared him. His only saving grace is that whether by some evolutionary marvel or freak genetic alterations, these lions are able to speak or he is able to understand them. The young reporter still can't wrap his head around this fact. Now that he had time to his thoughts, he has been slowly trying to understand the full scope of this new found ability. He's gone over the timeline of events since his arrival a few days ago at the Mahali Salama airstrip and found that the only stand out occurrence was his run in with the old man. Bryan still wasn't sure what exactly happened their either. This old man apparently blew something into his face and said some sort of Swahili gibberish that Bryan had no hopes of understanding. Initially he thought that it might have been some sort of blessing, and that perhaps the old man was just a priest, or shaman, for a local tribe, but with the emergence of this animal speaking ability, the young reporter has begun to think this old man had bestowed this ability onto him.

 _Well ain't this some shit,_ he thought as he gazed out of the cave, watching the African sun climb lower into the sky. _First talking lions and now magical shamans. When I had heard that Africa was mystical, I didn't expect it to actually be mystical._

Bryan chuckled lightly under his breath, still amazed at what he had gotten himself into. He sighed and then returned to his equipment, looking over it one more time before beginning to pack it back into his back pack.

* * *

Simba sat on the outside of the main cave that occupied the kopje. Much of the Pride was already inside, telling stories of their day or tales of a hunt. Much of the topic, however, was on their guest who resided in the cave beneath them. Some of the younger lionesses felt sympathetic to the human, equating him to that of a lost cub with no knowledge of the world. What few males there were thought differently. They saw him as a threat, an omen. They felt he would endanger the Pride and their lands. Rafiki's warning certainly didn't help ease their opinions of Bryan either.

"Simba," Nala asked, sitting next to her king and mate. "What did you find in the graveyard?"

Kovu and Kiara were sitting outside as well, listening intently to the conversation between the king and queen.

Simba sighed.

"The human wasn't traveling as alone as he said he was. We found two more humans in the graveyard. They were dead, mauled by the hyena's," Simba explained, his head hung low while recounting what he saw.

Nala nuzzled her mate, sensing his sadness at what had transpired within the graveyard.

"While that's sad and all, does this affect your decision, daddy?" Kiara asked.

Simba turned towards his daughter and said, "My decision to keep him within our borders still stands, however, I feel there should be an amendment in our treatment of him."

"What? Are we now supposed to treat him like a guest? Daddy, he could have killed Kion," Kiara protested, her disdain for the human presenting itself.

"I'll have to agree with Kiara, Simba. I don't think changing our treatment of the human this early is a wise decision. Rafiki said they're unpredictable, so what's to stop him from taking advantage of our kindness?" Kovu asked.

"What about you Kovu? You took advantage of our kindness initially, an act that nearly destroyed this Pride, but now look at you. Married to my daughter and next in line to rule alongside her, and one of us. Now I do not know this humans intentions yet, but time and time again it has been shown that violence should not be met with violence. Scar thought violence was the key to a successful kingdom, but all it did was destroy him. Unless we are given no other choice, we should always strive to meet violence with kindness," Simba stated, his voice stern but in no way raised.

"So what will we do then?" Nala asked, ready to stand by her king and mate despite how she might feel towards the human.

"I shall announce this to the Pride after dinner, but from here on out, the human shall be not as a prisoner, but not as a guest either. We shall let his actions speak for the quality of his character and let them influence whether he shall be able to leave sooner rather than later. Any past actions, no matter how troubling or frightening, should not impede our judgement of his character," Simba decreed.

Kiara sighed and said, "While I may not like it, I'll try my best, for you daddy."

Kovu nodded in agreement with Kiara.

"You know I'll always stand with both you and Kiara, Simba."

"And what type of queen would I be if I didn't stand by my king," Nala cooed, nuzzling Simba while he nuzzled her.

Simba chuckled as he nuzzled his mate. He glanced over her shoulder and noticed the hunting party had returned with their kill. The group of lionesses, led by Vitani and Sarafina, had killed two old antelopes and were dragging the corpses into the den.

"You three go ahead and start without me. I'm going to go fetch the human," Simba stated, nuzzling Nala again before heading down the rocky path that led to the second cave.

* * *

Bryan sat in the cave, the contents of his back pack now safely stowed away. A few minutes ago he had noticed a large group of lionesses dragging the corpses of two antelopes up the kopje. His stomach had growled as he saw the two corpses being dragged by. He had never tried antelope before but figured it tasted similar to venison. He also hoped that one of the lions would come down and let him get some food as well, or at least bring him a piece of the kill. If they were gracious enough to let him eat, the young reporter wagered he would need to find some basic materials to start a fire, which shouldn't be too hard since the savannah hardly gets any rain, leaving much of the foliage nice a dry.

As Bryan continued to lose himself in his thoughts, he noticed the sound of heavy paws approaching the cave. He sat up against the wall and waited for the lion to enter the cave.

"I've come down to offer you some food, human. Our hunting party has returned and it only seemed fair to offer you some our kill," Simba said as he entered the cave, approaching Bryan.

Something seemed off about the king's voice. A few hours ago, during their initial encounter, Simba's voice had been stern and command, much like that you'd expect of a king. Now, however, he was soft and gentle in his speech. This unsettled the young reporter who had all but become used to the Pride's gruff treatment of him.

"Oh-well…uh…thanks," Bryan replied, caught off guard by Simba's new treatment of him. "And just call me Bryan."

"Duly noted Bryan," Simba smiled, the sincerity of it once again catching Bryan off guard. "Do you need help getting up? Your leg looks pretty bad."

Bryan looked down at his swollen ankle, which had now turned to a dark purple color. He quickly pulled his boots back over to him and put them on, covering most of the swelling.

"N-no thanks. I'll manage," Bryan replied, stuttering over his words, as he hoisted himself up into a standing position, making sure to not put too much weight on his bad leg.

Simba nodded and said, "I'll send for Rafiki tomorrow so he can treat your injury. Now come along, the others have already started."

Bryan followed behind the massive lion, his pace slowed by his hobble. Simba seemed to notice Bryan's trouble and also slowed his pace, staying close to the young reporters side in case he did end up needing help.

The two walked in relative silence, each one not knowing what to say to the other. Both, in truth, didn't know how to have a casual conversation together, the main factor in this being the species barrier. They could both speak to each other, but neither of them knew what to talk about. The only sound that erupted between the two were slow and steady breaths along with the occasional grunt from Bryan as he made his way up the small incline.

As the two arrived at the entrance to the main cave of the kopje, Simba stopped Bryan from proceeding.

"Before we go, I think you should know that we saw what had happened in the graveyard," Simba stated. "And while you did lie about who else was with you, if you need to talk about it, you can come to me."

Bryan's stomach sank, creating that feeling of dread when you know you've been caught. But it wasn't only the fact that his lie had been sniffed out that caused the feeling, it was the kindness and sincerity in the large lion's voice that confused Bryan. Only a few hours ago the whole Pride seemed ready to tear into Bryan, but now their king had pulled a complete one eighty on his attitude. The situation still felt very hostile in some sense, so Bryan casually put his hand within grabbing distance of his sheathed knife, just in case it actually turned out he was also on the menu for dinner.

"Yeah…will do," Bryan replied, his voice soft, not exactly sure how to respond to the lions gesture of kindness.

With that revelation on the table, Simba continued forward, followed closely by Bryan. The African sun was still shinning in the sky, not yet having sunk below the horizon. Plenty of light still shown down on the kopje, making it easy for Bryan to peer into the main cave as he stood outside of it.

As the young reporter neared the threshold of the cave, he stopped in his tracks a few feet away from it. Simba didn't notice, his gaze set on his family, and he continued forward. It took the rest of the Pride only a few seconds to notice Bryan standing outside the cave. One by one, they all looked up from their cuts of antelope, their eyes locked on the lone human. The low murmur of growls came from several lions within the cave, further unsettling the young reporter.

Simba, already well within the cave, heard the low rumble of growls as well as his Pride's fixed gaze towards the outside of the cave. He turned around and noticed Bryan standing at the edge cave, appearing to be frozen in fear.

 _This is gonna be harder than I thought_ ," Simba thought as he walked back out of the cave to stand at Bryan's side.

"The hu- ehrm Bryan, shall be dining with us from here on out. If anyone has a problem with this, you can voice your concern after our meal," Simba announced, bringing about the low murmur of chatter and a few other growls, mostly about why Simba had changed his decision on Bryan's punishment.

Simba then headed back into the cave, now followed by Bryan, who remained much closer than he had when they were initially walking up the path. Much of the lions gaze was still set on the young reporter, while a few had returned to their meals. Many of them were curious to see how the human would eat while some of them were making sure he didn't try something stupid.

The two antelope corpses were laying atop an outcropping of rock just high enough to be climbed by simply stepping up. Surprisingly, the lions had seemed to take care in their dissection of the corpses. Bryan had expected to see the whole Pride crowding around the dead antelope in an all-out feeding frenzy, but they were in fact very ordered in their consumption of the antelope. Equally sized chunks seemed to have been torn from the bones of the antelope, with each lion seeming to have the same amount of meat.

Bryan watched as Simba leaped onto the outcropping and unsheathed his large claws. The lion barred his teeth before biting into the upper thigh of one of the antelopes. He then dug his claws around the chunk of meat he had latched onto and, in one swift motion, tore off a large square of meat equal in size to the other lions. Simba then walked over to what Bryan assumed to be his family. The young reporter had noticed Kion lounging next to an older lioness and Kopa playfully tearing into his meal.

 _Well, looks like it's my turn_ , Bryan thought as he approached the two corpses.

Much of the antelope's hair was still attached to the meat, prompting Bryan to unsheathe his knife. Several lions began to ask what that is in low voices, with some of them commenting on how it looked like a "shiny" claw. As a child, Bryan had hunted with his father every few years. He knew the basics of skinning an animal, but he was out of practice. Thankfully, he wasn't going to mount this hide above his mantle, so he only had to worry about getting it off of the rest of the antelope.

"Why is he taking off the skin," a lioness asked in a hushed tone. "That's the best part!"

With an area about equal to what the others had, Bryan set the cut off skin to the side, he dug the serrated side of the knife into the muscle of the antelope, stopping when the blade was about half submerged in the bloody flesh. He sawed through the muscle with ease, the serrated edge of his knife making the cutting a lot easier than it would have been with a straight edged knife. When he had cut out a rough square, Bryan set his knife off to the side and hesitantly dug his hands into the muscle, prying out his cut of the kill.

Holding the chunk of meat in one hand, Bryan made sure to pick up his knife in the other. The young reporter took a quick glance around the cave, noticing that a large number of the Pride were still starring at him, including Simba and the rest of his family. He also noticed that there really wasn't a good place to set up a fire in the cave, so Bryan stepped down from the outcropping and exited the cave, stopping just outside its mouth.

The chunk of meat was still warm and was slowly dripping blood onto the ground. Bryan frantically scanned the surrounding area for a good sized stone to act as a plate. He found one resting up against the mouth of the cave and quickly retrieved it. With the meat still in his hand, Bryan unclipped his canteen from his belt and unscrewed the cap with his mouth, holding it there while he dribbled some water over the stone to clean it. The young reporter then set the chunk of meat down onto the wet stone and refastened the cap to his canteen and clipped it back onto his belt.

While looking for a suitable stone, Bryan had noticed several smaller stones and a pile of dried sticks and leaves near where the path continued to wind up the kopje. It was all rather convenient that all the materials to build a small fire pit were right here, but Bryan didn't question it. At this point, he was fine with taking what he could get.

The Pride continued to watch in confusion and awe as Bryan gathered the stones, leaves, and sticks. Many were wondering if he had completely snapped, but they continued to watch. Simba, Nala, and the other members of the royal family were also captivated by Bryan's actions. They watched intently as he slowly laid out the stones in a small circle and placed the sticks into the circle first, followed by the leaves.

Bryan had noticed that the Pride was completely focused on him now, and rather than feel unsettled or nervous about it, he quite enjoyed the attention. It was far better than the thousand pound cats barring their teeth at him and looking like the want to see how he looks on the inside. He also couldn't wait until they saw what he was going to do next.

The fire pit was almost complete, but it lacked one key ingredient: fire. Luckily, Bryan had thought ahead and placed his butane lighter in his pants, so there was no need to make the climb back down to his backpack. He pulled out the small, bright orange lighter and flipped open it's top, exposing the simple flint wheel that ignited the flame.

He casually shifted his body so that the lighter was in full view of the still watching Pride, wanting them to see him produce the flame. With a simple flick of his thumb, Bryan struck the wheel that ignited the primer, producing a tall, blue and orange flame. A cacophony of "oohs" and "ahhhhs" erupted from Pride, along with some commenting on how the human was controlling fire.

With the same casualness as before, Bryan lowered the flame close enough to the pit to ignite the sticks and leaves. They immediately caught fire, the flames spreading across the pile in a slow burning fashion. Bryan hastily capped his lighter and set it off to the side, picking up his knife again. He knelt down next to the chunk of meat and began to slice it into thin strips. The young reporter didn't have the proper equipment to roast the whole cut of meat over the fire at once, so thinner strips were the only option to allow for a fully cooked meat.

Now that the chunk of meat was reduced to several thin strips, Bryan jabbed his knife into one of the strips and proceeded to hold it over the flame, occasionally turning the knife to rotate the meat.

"What a waste of perfectly good antelope," Gozi said loud enough so that Bryan could hear him.

Several of the other lions chuckled and agreed with the guardsman.

"Well unlike lions, we humans can't stomach raw meat as well. We need to cook it so as to avoid any sort of diseases the animal might have been carrying," Bryan replied, a tinge of smugness present in his voice.

Simba cleared his throat, silencing any argument that might have been brewing between the two.

"Seeing as how everyone is situated, I have an announcement to make," Simba began sitting up from his place inside the cave so that everyone could see and hear him. "I am making an amendment to my decree concerning Bryan and his place among the Pridelands. As I have learned through my short time as your King, violence only breeds violence. First Scar, who tried to take control of our lands, and then Zira, who attempted the same. Both attempted to use violence to achieve their goals, and both were met with violence. As King, it has been my goal to only meet violence with violence when there is no other choice, and today I nearly broke that goal. Bryan entered our lands and injured my son, Kion. While it was a violent act, it was the only choice Bryan saw. Now, however, we have a new choice ahead of us. Rather than show violence towards a creature we both don't understand and know, we shall instead show understanding. Bryan shall not be treated as a prisoner, nor as a guest. We shall let his actions speak for his character, with their quality determining whether he shall be permitted to leave sooner than later. Any past actions, no matter how fresh the injuries may be, should not cloud our judgement on him. Should any of you have concerns, please speak your mind."

The conclusion of Simba's statement brought about a large amount of chatter and questions, many of them boiling down to why the sudden change or whether this is a good idea or not. No one, however, raised a direct question Simba, prompting the king to return to his meal and family. Bryan did so as well, noticing that the strip of antelope that he was currently roasting was as close to well done as he'd get it. He moved it away from the flame and pulled it off the knife, being careful to not touch the hot blade. He quickly popped the piece of antelope into his mouth.

 _Not bad. Could be better, but I'll take what I can get_ , Bryan thought as he chewed, his eyes glancing around the Pride.

The Pride had collectively turned their attention back to their meal, with several lions catching quick glances over in Bryan's direction.

Bryan swallowed the first strip of meat and then softly said, "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

* * *

 **See? I told you there'd be more frequent updates! This is one of the longer chapters so far, but most of that comes from the first dinner between the Pridelanders and Bryan. I wanted to put most of my effort into this part as it is truly the first "positive" interaction between the Pride and their human guest. Simba also seems to have gone through a rather sudden change of heart. Is he truly okay with basically absolving Bryan of his crimes?**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed! Keep an eye out for more updates!**

 **Stay sexy readers!**

 **-JacksonMW**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter X

Bryan sat alone outside of the main den of the kopje. The sun was on the cusp of setting, thus ushering in the cold, dark night of the African savannah. Dinner had been completed some time ago, leaving the Pride time to socialize and wind down from a very eventful day. Some were already asleep even, a feat Bryan found impossible over the sustained noise that the many voices of the lions produced. Rather than attempt to socialize with the Pride, Bryan felt content with sitting on the edge of the cliff, his feet dangling freely in the air. He was trying his very best to clear his head, for now at least. He still had many questions, of course, but the young reporter knew that if he continued to let his mind race, he wouldn't be getting any sleep for a while.

So therefore, rather than stimulate his mind with the riveting conversations that could be had with the Pride that was comprised of many who still didn't trust him, Bryan let the soft, soothing sounds of the Pridelands comfort him. The lands beauty still perplexed the young reporter. The very nature of the Pridelands lush landscape seemed improbable considering the condition of the Earth and humanities dominance. Surely some other humans must know about this places existence. It seemed impossible for such a land filled with so many natural wonders to be completely unheard of, but then again, roughly ten percent of the world's ocean was mapped, reminding Bryan that the Pridelands existence wasn't really all that impossible. It was just a really well-kept secret.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Simba's soothing voice said from Bryan's left, drawing the young reporter out of his trance. "Even though I've never seen your kind before, I know the look on your face. Many cubs have it when they first gaze out over the Pridelands."

Bryan said nothing, instead making it obvious that he was listening to Simba speak.

Simba, taking the hint, continued.

"You see, everything the light touches comprises the Pridelands. It has been that way for generations, and will continue to be that way long after my reign," Simba explained, periodically glancing over at Bryan. "I'm very proud to be the King of such a bountiful land. And of course, with that Pride, comes a desire to protect my land" –

"You don't have to worry about me causing any trouble," Bryan spoke up, interrupting Simba.

The King turned to face Bryan, and the young reporter did the same, their eyes locking on each other's.

"Even if I wanted to, I'm at a severe disadvantage. Two hundred pound me versus a several hundred pound mass of pure muscle like you is exactly a fair fight," Bryan explained, his tone light hearted, but serious. "I know when to cut my losses, so just note that I will try my best to get along. Honest."

Simba smiled knowingly, surprised at Bryan's humbleness and acceptance of the situation. He had expected the young reporter to continue the arrogant attitude, but did not complain at Bryan's directness and sincerity. He simply nodded in reply, feeling that no more needed to be said on the matter.

"Are there places like this from where you come from?" Simba asked, turning away from Bryan and gazing out at the setting sun. Bryan did the same.

"Here and there, maybe, but not so much in one place," Bryan replied. "Humans have a strange relationship with our environment. We aren't afraid to mold the land to fit our needs, often covering up entire areas of green with cities and homes. That often leads to the destruction of our surroundings however."

Simba was unsure of what exactly a city was, but he was surprised again to be getting more information from Bryan. He didn't speak, letting the human continue.

"I guess that's a downside of having a species number well into the billions, all concentrated on one tiny planet," Bryan mused, turning his focus away from the land and up to the sky, noticing the faint shimmer of the stars. "But we are also very good and protection. The few amazing areas of our planet we do find, we often make our best effort to preserve their beauty. After all, it's a dangerous, unknown place up there. We'd best make do with what we have."

The King followed Bryan's gaze up the sky, listening intently to Bryan speak. He barely understood, let alone comprehended what he was saying about "planets" and "species", but the lack of comprehension did not mean a lack of appreciation. The fact that Bryan was even talking this long about himself to Simba was astounding, considering only a few hours ago he was considered their prisoner.

"Do you think there's something more after we die?" Bryan asked, still gazing at the stars before turning to Simba.

"My father once told me that the stars are the great kings of the past, watching down on us from afar," Simba stated, turning back to face Bryan. "Sometimes they offer us guidance, and sometimes just knowing they are up there is comforting."

Bryan nodded, saying, "I hope so. Chester and Fanaka…they…they deserved better than… what they got."

The mere mention of Bryan's fallen comrades opened the flood gates, releasing all the pent up emotions Bryan had stifled after their deaths. Their screams echoed faintly along the wind along with the sinister laughs of the hyenas following. The young reporter closed his eyes, tears seeping from his eyes and lightly dripping along the dusty ground.

Without needing any explanation, Simba already knew who this Chester and Fanaka were, the images of the mangled corpses and the stench of blood flashing across his mind. He slowly outstretched his front paw, placing it lightly on Bryan's left shoulder. Unlike before, Bryan didn't jerk back from the lions touch. Instead, he placed his right hand atop Simba's large paw, sniffling as he did.

The two sat there for a moment, drawing the stares of the Pride from inside the den, the low murmur of voices discussing the new development. Not a word was spoken between Bryan and Simba for a good minute or so, the only sound being Bryan's faint sniffling and sobbing. Simba neither jerked his paw away nor made any more movements, instead choosing to stay there as long as Bryan needed him to be.

Eventually, the young reporter retracted his hand from the top of Simba's paw, using it to wipe away the tears from his face. The King retracted his paw, turning his gaze away from Bryan and back out to the land, watching the sun finally sink below the horizon.

Bryan exhaled loudly, wiping his nose with his hand.

"Well," he said, his voice still shaky from the sobbing. "I think I'm..uh…gonna get some sleep. Yeah."

He quickly sat up, wiping his face once more before making for the lower cave.

"I can walk you down if you'd like," Simba spoke up, sitting up from the edge of the cliff and following behind Bryan.

"No…uh, that's fine. Thanks," Bryan said, a wave of awkwardness rushing over him as he hastened his pace down the sloping incline that led down the kopje.

"Well, okay. Just note some of the Lion Guard will be positioned outside of your den for the first few nights," Simba said, stopping in his tracks as he watched Bryan descend the kopje.

He caught the young reporter nod in reply before he disappeared from view, prompting the King to return back to the main den.

* * *

Bryan sat alone in the dark cave, the only sound coming from the low, thunderous rumble of an approaching rain storm. He sat upright against the innermost wall of the cave, the blanket pulled up to his neck. The cave was cool enough for Bryan to justify the use of the camping blanket.

Sleep seemed to escape the young reporter. He had been sitting up against the wall, staring out at the entrance of the cave and watching the periodic flashes of lightning move closer and grow more frequent for a few hours at least. Occasionally his eyes would flutter, begging to be closed for the night, but Bryan's racing thoughts refused to grant such a luxury.

 _Not only did I cry like some weak baby in front of a Pride of mostly hostile lions, I was comforted by their fucking KING,_ he thought over and over again, recounting the rough yet comforting touch of Simba's paw on his shoulder, still trying to wrap his mind around its implications.

The young reporter was no stranger to an animal's compassion. He had grown up with two family pets, both Golden Retrievers. Receiving slobbery licks and feeling them pounce on him when he returned from school was a common occurrence in his youth. But having a fully grown lion that would most likely blow the top off of any records previously recorded actively attempt to comfort him was most definitely not a common occurrence for any human.

Outside of the cave, the pitter-patter of rain drops began to fill the air. The dusty, rocky ground soon began to become covered in water as the rain increased in intensity. What was once a light, soothing breeze had now become a strong gale, the rain blowing sideways in sheets. Thankfully, the wind was blowing in a manner that the rain wasn't really coming into the cave as much as it could, keeping Bryan's new home relatively dry.

He continued to fight off sleep, mulling over his thoughts. However, the intervals at which his eyelids would close continued to increase in frequency, eventually getting to a point where the young reporter was slipping in and out of consciousness. At one point, Bryan had thought he had drifted into the calming embrace of sleep, but found his eyes dart open as they had many times before.

Bryan muttered a series of curses under his breath as he scanned his surroundings once more. Everything seemed to be the same, only something felt… off. The sound of the rain railing against the side of the massive kopje had ceased. In fact, all sounds had ceased, aside for the steady breathing coming from his own mouth.

A lingering cold, unnatural in feeling, hung in the air of the cave. His breath vaporized as it came out of his mouth as if he had suddenly entered the depths of a much colder climate. It was a cold unlike any he had experienced on the glaciers of Antarctica. It chilled him to the bone, piercing the very fiber of his being. And yet he did not shiver.

With the cold came darkness as well, unending in scope. He could barely see past his own nose as the darkness seemed to physically hang in the air of the cave, like a thick plume of smoke had descended into the cave. If it was from a fire, it would have been hot, the mere inhalation of it should be burning his lungs. And yet, he only felt cold.

"H-hello?" he stammered, his voice echoing unnaturally in what now seemed to be an endless, dark void.

No sound came forth from the darkness. Bryan muttered a hello once more, but was met with the same result. The young reporter slowly scrambled to his feet, noticing that his once sprained ankle seemed to be fully healed. It became obvious to him that he must be dreaming, and tried every method to wake himself up that he could think of, from pinching himself to trying imitate that feeling of falling. Nothing seemed to snap him out of what-ever dream this might be.

With nothing more to do, Bryan suddenly felt a compelling force drawing him forward. His legs started on their own, walking him slowly through the endless darkness that enveloped him. The clunky boots he wore echoed with each step he took, their sound becoming distorted with each passing step.

Ahead of him, Bryan noticed faint figures in the darkness. It was impossible for him to make them out, so he continued forward, slowly approaching the strange apparitions. What-ever they were, they seemed to form a semi-circle, each of them standing atop increasingly taller platforms that rose to a massive pillar in the middle of the others.

The figures atop the pillars came more into focus as Bryan approached, taking on a shape he had become all too familiar with: a lion. Each of them varied in height and size, but all seemed strangely familiar. The scope of the darkness made it nigh impossible for the young reporter to accurately make out what was so familiar about the beasts.

Suddenly, a thunderous cracking echoed across the dark void, startling Bryan. He peered down at his feet and noticed the ground beneath him begin to crumble away, falling into a bottomless chasm that had opened beneath his feet. A small sliver of the darkened earth remained below the reporters boots.

He turned his head upwards and noticed that the darkness had lifted around the pillars, revealing a pale grey landscape.

 _No,_ he thought as he stared at the pillars. Each of the lions now clearly resembled members of Simba's own pride, with the great king himself and his queen sitting to the right and left of the enormous pillar. They all stared endlessly into the void behind Bryan, their eyes replaced with endless, soulless voids themselves and their once vibrant pelt colors drowned out with a sickly greyish color.

He looked over every one of the lions, recognizing the young princes Kion and Kopa, the young princess Kiara and her mate Kovu, Leo, Jasi, Gozi, and countless others. They all encircled him, their eyes staring yet not seeing. Slowly, he looked towards the top of the largest pillar, unsure of what awaited him. He drew a sharp breath, gasping for air once he met the cold, deathly red glow of Shetani, the massive lions own black pelt melding him with the darkness.

A low, hushed laugh echoed around Bryan as he stared into the very eyes of the devil, who's own were unflinching. When he broke the gaze of the black lion, he found each of the other's own soulless eyes were fixated solely on him, their own expressions as cold and lifeless as a corpse.

The menacing laughter continued, enveloping the young reporter, piercing his mind with every bellow. Bryan frantically turned around on the small piece of earth he stood on, his breathing becoming ragged and rampant as each of the lions jumped down from their pillars and began to encircle him. His knees gave out from under him as a flash of red pierced his vision, sending a wave of pain throughout his body.

As he tried to continue looking at the lions, he noticed that one by one, with each painful flash that enveloped his vision, they fell into the abyss below.

"No…" he cried allowed, grasping the sides of his head as each flash increased in frequency, each body fell, and the laughter grew louder.

"No…" he cried again, as he saw Simba fall, then Nala, little Kopa, Kion, Kiara, and all the others plummet into abyss, all the while the laughter continued, melding in the deafening roar of a mighy beast.

"NO!" he cried one final time as he himself felt the earth beneath him crumble away, sending him plunging into the abyss, his vision filled with red eyes.

* * *

 **HE LIVES!**

 **Yes I'm still alive. I am sincerely sorry about the long unannounced hiatus on this story. I tend to work on multiple writing projects at once, and had shifted my focus to a novel I've been working on for years after I ceased updates to this story. But I haven't lost interest in finishing this piece! It's probably the best Fan Fic I've churned out in forever, and after taking a bit more time fleshing out the story, I'm back and ready to continue!**

 **I'll be sure to keep any of my readers updated on the status of the story better than I have, and thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more!**

 **~Jackson M. W.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter XI

Bryan jolted awake, pushing the blanket he had covered himself in away from his body, sending it flying across the cave. He breathed heavily, gasping for air as he frantically looked around the rocky walls of the cave. Light was shining through the mouth of the cave, signaling that the young reporter must have slept straight through the storm and into the late morning.

He slowly began to calm himself as he continued to look around. Everything seemed to be as he left it before. His bags were piled up against the cave wall to his left along with his shoes socks. Bryan quickly glanced down at his leg, noticing the large purple bruise on his ankle had not disappeared like it had in the dream.

 _I've never been happier to see a sprained ankle,_ he sighed, calming himself further.

The dream, or whatever he had just experienced, was the worst nightmare he had ever had the displeasure of experiencing. It's imagery, the feeling of dread, of bone chilling coldness was still fresh in his mind, fresher than any memory or experience. Its contents continued to play themselves out in his mind, over and over as Bryan sat still in the cave, staring at his swollen ankle.

 _What in the hell did I experience,_ he thought, trying to make sense of the nightmare. _As if being held prisoner by enormous talking lions wasn't enough, now I'm being haunted by crazy dreams. Am I just going completely insane?!_

Bryan cursed aloud, throwing his head back against the wall in a huff. He was at a lost for whatever the dream had implied, or if it even implied anything. For all he knew, it was simply his subconscious trying to wrap its own head around the ludicrous circumstances he found himself in. After all, talking lions weren't exactly a normal occurrence. The young reporter had certainly seen his fair share, but everything that had happened so far paled in comparison to what was happening now.

"I'm just right fucked in the head, aren't I?" He asked aloud, letting out another huff.

Taking a few more minutes to collect himself, Bryan sighed one last time before hoisting himself up off the ground.

* * *

Simba sat just outside the main cave of Pride Rock, his eyes gazing off into the Pride Lands. So much was on his mind, the king could hardly decide what to focus on. His morning rounds had revealed nothing of great importance, aside from the usual petty squabbles about "whose grass this is" or "whose side of the river is whose". Many of the herds were filled with questions about what had happened the previous day. Talk of a "strange creature who could make thunder with his hands" had certainly made its way through the land, bringing an abundance of questions to himself on what all happened.

It had occurred to Simba before he went to sleep an announcement would have to be made to the other animals of the Pride Lands about their "guest".

 _What to do with the our 'guest'?_ he groaned, rubbing his temple with his paw.

Bryan the Human. A stranger amongst his pride. From what Kovu and Kiara had told him, the night had been uneventful down below, save for the thunderstorm that had rolled across the savannah. In fact, Kovu had told Simba that the human had been so quiet that he was afraid he had died. The young lion had to check several times in the night that Bryan was still breathing.

"HEY," cried Kion from within the cave. "Cut it out you damn monkey, that hurts!"

A swift crack echoed from the confines of the cave, causing Simba to wince in pain and rub his own head. The sound of Rafiki's staff striking a lion's thick skull was well known to Simba. The wise mandrill had a habit of using his handy staff to teach plenty of lessons to those in need of one.

"Rafiki would be able to finish sooner if Prince Kion quit fidgeting," the mandrill snapped as he continued to rub another oddly colored liquid over Kion's wound."

"We should have the human do whatever he did to me to you and see how you fair," Kion huffed in protest.

Rafiki glared at the prince, making a move for his staff once more.

"Sorry!" Kion yelped, rubbing the top of his head from the previous strike. "Sorry Rafiki. It just hurts is all."

The deathly glare from Rafiki changed back to his normal, kind stare as he smiled at the prince.

"It is okay my Prince. Rafiki's medicine should keep the pain under control. You'll be back to normal in but a few days."

"Kion be nice to Rafiki," Nala called from across the cave. "You owe him your life."

Nala held a tight grip on young Kopa, who was notorious for managing to squirm away during bath time.

"Yeah big bro," the youngest prince muttered as he felt the endless cascade of licks against his matted fur. "I'd rather be where you are then getting licked to death."

Kion chuckled lightly as he laid his head down on the cave floor.

"Trust me little bro, you wouldn't. A whole day of doing nothing is a curse compared to a few simple licks."

"Who did you get to handle Guard matters in your absence anyways?" Kiara asked from beside Nala as she stretched herself out. "I heard Mavu offered to help."

Kion winced in pain again as Rafiki pressed rather forcefully on the wound once again.

"Gozi and Mavu will be leading the Guard in my stead," Kion replied. "I'm very peeved that I'll be missing today. Uzo and Kuzo were going to start their training today, and you know how I like to be present whenever someone new joins the guard."

"Those two knuckleheads?" Kiara gaped. "Oh lord. There goes the Pride Lands."

"Now now Kiara, be nice," Sarabi said sternly. "Uzo and Kuzo are very capable young lions. I'm sure they'll do the Guard proud."

"Or die trying," Kiara muttered, sitting up from the ground. "Anyways, I'm off to find Kovu. We'll go ahead and start sorting out some of those disputes daddy mentioned."

"What's that now?" Simba said, startled out of his deep train of thoughts

"Kovu and I would be more than happy to start handling the disputes you mentioned earlier," Kiara stated happily, trotting over to where Simba sat, proceeding to nuzzle him. "After all, we'll be leading the kingdom one day. Best to get as much experience as possible."

Simba chuckled lightly as he sat up, stretching out his forelimbs before returning Kiara's loving nuzzle with one of his own.

"Your eagerness to lead is a breath of fresh air Kiara, thank you," Simba replied softly. "I'll walk you down and see if Bryan has woken up yet."

"There is no need to," Rafiki stated as he applied the last bit of ointment to Kion's wound. "The human is already awake."

Everyone perked up at what the old mandrill had said, wondering how he could know that Bryan was already awake. As if on cue, the human had rounded the corner of the cave, his limp more pronounced than before. They're gazes were all drawn to him as he slowly limped across the mouth of the cave. He gave a meek nod to the royal family as he headed off towards one of the edges of the large promontory that jutted out from Pride Rock.

"Morning Bryan!" Kopa replied cheerfully, breaking the awkward silence that had descended on the pride.

The young prince was quickly shushed by Nala, who shifted herself to where Bryan couldn't see young Kopa, let along reply. He turned back upon hearing the cheerful greeting, as if to give a courteous reply to the prince, but was met with Nala's cold, icy stare. The young reporter quickly turned his head around and looked out over the Pride Lands, his legs dangling off the edge of the kopje.

"Kopa, I want you to stay away from the human for now," Nala stated in a stern, hushed tone, taking a quick glance back at Bryan before continuing. "If I even hear you mention him you'll be grounded. Do you understand?"

"But mom," Kopa said meekly. "He's actually really nice."

Nala widened her eyes at the young prince, staring into Kopa's very soul, her brow furrowed and face conveying upmost seriousness.

"Okay," Kopa replied solemnly. "I understand."

Nala simply nodded in approval, giving her youngest son a loving lick on his face.

Across from Nala, Sarabi sat up, her gaze half focused on Bryan as she walked closer to Nala.

"Kopa, would you like to go watch the Guard practice today?" she said warmly.

"Really?! Can I mom?" the young prince exclaimed loudly.

Nala chuckled at her son's enthusiasm, releasing her hold on the jittery young cub.

"Of course, my little prince. As long as you stay with Grandma."

"Don't worry Nala, I'd never let him out of my sight," Sarabi stated. "Now come along Kopa. Maybe I'll show you some old hunting moves along the way."

Kopa smiled eagerly as he walked out of the cave alongside Sarabi, his gaze slightly shifting over to look at Bryan. He almost said goodbye to him, but remembered the stern warning naught moments before, and kept his mouth shut. The young prince mewled softly, a twinge of sadness washing over him as he took one last glance at Bryan before making his way down Pride Rock with Sarabi.

* * *

Bryan sat along at the edge of the promontory, his feet swaying gently as the hung over the rocky cliff. He had kept his gaze set out on the Pride Lands, but his true focus was on the conversations between the lions behind him.

The young reporter tried to look as nonchalant as possible, unsure if Simba and the others would be able to notice his eavesdropping. Being a freelance journalist required a keen sense of special awareness, a sort of sixth sense when it came to eavesdropping. He was quite proud of his ability to blend into his surroundings, an ability that often granted him the juiciest of information on some assignments.

Of course, that was with humans. Lions, on the other hand, were a completely different story. They were the "kings of the jungle" after all, developed from years of evolution to be the best of the best. The average lion had a whole array of senses that a human could only dream of achieving, but with the magical talking lions of Simba's pride, Bryan was completely unsure of their cognitive ability when it came to picking up on subtle changes in mood.

From what he could gather, they behaved eerily like humans in this manner, which the young reporter supposed was a plus on his side. After all, if they behaved like humans on an emotional level, Bryan's investigative abilities wouldn't fail him.

The queen's reaction to him was proof enough of this. The moment Kopa spoke up to wish him a good morning, she shuttled him away. It was behavior not unlike some of the mothers in the villages Bryan had visited weeks prior. The mothers were rightfully cautious whenever Bryan was about. He was a stranger after all, and their behavior did not bother him.

But Nala's did. Bryan couldn't explain it, but he felt hurt when Nala stifled the young prince for just being kind. He tried to push his feelings aside, trying to justify it as a simple case a mother protecting her child, but each time he did, his mind drifted back to the horrible nightmare, to watching Nala, Simba, and the others plummet to their doom.

When Kopa was leaving with his… grandmother, yes, the one called Sarabi, he oh so wished to say goodbye to the young prince. But from the moment he walked up to the main den of the kopje, he could feel the icy cold stare of Nala on his back. He knew it would take a miracle for the queen to let him near any of her children again.

"I should get going too," Kiara said, breaking another bout of silence that had descended over the group. "I'll send Zazu to get you if we run into any trouble daddy."

"You'll do fine Kiara," Simba said softly, giving his daughter one last nuzzle before she made her way towards the path leading down the kopje.

 _Nala had said for Kopa to not speak to me, but nothing was said about me speaking to Kiara,_ Bryan thought quickly as he watched the fit young lioness from the corner of his eye.

"Good luck, your highness," Bryan said courteously, turning towards Kiara and giving her a small nod and a smile.

Kiara stopped in her tracks as the silence returned over the group, she stood motionless before turning towards Bryan, her face void of any emotion.

"It's Kiara, human," she said, her voice unwavering.

She quickly resumed her pace, making her way down the slope and out of sight.

Bryan cursed under his breath and turned his gaze back to the Pride Lands.

 _Your highness?! God, am I an idiot or something? Those were my first words since last night,_ he moaned inside his head.

The response from Kiara was far from what he wanted. It was much better than a growl and a glare, but it wasn't exactly a friendly response either. It was indifferent. She didn't even acknowledge him by his name. Again, a wave of sadness crashed upon the young reporter, images of Kiara falling into the abyss springing into his mind.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the feelings.

 _Relax, it was a good first step. Not subtle, but not too pronounced. If anything, I just caught her off guard,_ the young reporter counseled himself as he continued to gaze out at the Pride Lands, catching a glimpse of Kiara meeting up with another lion, the one called Kovu.

From behind him, Bryan heard Simba clear his throat several times. The young reporter immediately cocked his head in the king's direction.

"Bryan, is your leg still bothering you?" Simba asked, his voice and eyes carrying the same kindness that they had the night before. "Rafiki came prepared to treat it, if you'd like."

Bryan thought for a moment. He felt compelled to shrug it off, play the role of the tough guy who didn't need any help. The only reason to do so would be to mask his own weaknesses, but the whole Pride had already gotten a good taste of them last night, so there was really nothing left to hide.

"Sure," he replied, sitting up from the edge of the kopje.

The young reporter slowly made his way over to where Rafiki and Kion where. The leader of the Guard had refused to take notice of Bryan until he spotted the reporter slowly limping towards him. Kion's eyes narrowed at Bryan as he let out a low growl, barring his teeth at the human.

"On second thought, I'm fine," Bryan stammered nervously. "Really, it's no trouble."

Simba had noticed the exchange between his son and Bryan. He shook his head in disappointment and walked over to Bryan's side, stepping between him and Kion.

"Don't worry Bryan. I'll make sure Kion doesn't try to hurt you," Simba said warmly as he began to walk over towards the raised portion of the cave that Kion was resting on.

"Dad, you can't be serious," Kion growled through gritted teeth. "He did this to me. He nearly killed me! How could you let a creature who nearly killed your eldest son even live with us, let alone live in general!?"

Kion's voice echoed throughout the cave as he practically roared the last part, his eyes narrowed and focused on Bryan, who stood rigid in the entrance of the cave.

Truth be told, Bryan couldn't blame Kion for the way he was acting. Breaking bread with someone who nearly killed you less than a day earlier was asking a bit much. But Simba seemed to insist that Bryan come closer, motioning for him to come forward as he sat just on the edge of the raised platform, placing himself between Bryan and Kion. The king didn't even acknowledge his son, who stood as erect as he could behind Simba, practically frothing at the mouth as he snarled and growled at the young reporter.

"Simba, are you sure this is"- Nala was cut off by Simba raising his right paw.

"The king is right," Rafiki said plainly, walking over to Bryan's side to lead the frightened human over to the raised platform. "For there to be peace in the future, the wounds of the past must be healed."

Kion snarled loudly as Bryan took an uneasy seat on the edge of the platform, his back turned to the angered lion.

"I will never forgive him. If it were my choice, he would be dead," Kion spat, slumping over onto his side.

"Well like it or not, I am the king and your father, and you will respect my wishes," Simba stated sternly, his voice carrying a previously unheard sense of power to Bryan. "In the end, it's your decision Kion. But violence only breeds violence. Remember that Kion"

For a moment, Bryan thought he should make the first move. A quick apology might smooth things over, but the young reporter knew it wouldn't be sincere. It's not that he didn't feel sorry for the prince, but Kion wasn't exactly the friendliest lion out of the bunch. He had good reason to be reserved, like the others of the pride continued to be, but out right wishing death upon him cemented Bryan's decision to avoid any apologies.

"Come now, off with your boots," Rafiki stated, lightly hitting the side of Bryan's boots with his walking stick.

Following the mandrill's orders, Bryan unlaced both his boots and pulled them off. The unafflicted leg's boot came off with relative ease, but the swollen ankle on the other one made pulling the boot off an arduous task for the young reporter. He winced in pain as he removed the boot slowly, setting it off to the side with the other.

"So, those weren't your feet?" Simba asked.

"What?" Bryan said, puzzled at the question. He glanced back at Simba's face and noticed the king's head was tilted in the same manner as the lion back at Mahali Salama. Even Kion seemed to be captivated, his face still creased with anger.

"No, these are just boots. They protect my feet," Bryan replied.

He reached over for one of the tan hiking boots and rapped his knuckle against the toe of the boot, producing several thuds.

"My _real_ feet are about as squishy as the rest of me, as evident by this lovely sprain on my ankle."

"May I see this… boot?" Simba asked.

"Sure, knock yourself out," Bryan replied, handing the boot over to Simba, who took hold of it in his paw as best he could. "Just don't sniff it!"

Bryan's warning came too late as the king's nose was already well within reach of the musky, sweaty smelling interior of the boot. As expected, the mighty lion king gagged in disgust, tossing the boot clear across the cave as he tried to rid his nose of the truly awful scent of sweaty feet.

"Dad!" Kion cried out before trying to stand up, his eyes now transfixed on Bryan and his mouth curled into a snarl.

"Simba, are you all right?" Nala cried out as well, rushing over to her husband's side as he gagged and furiously rubbed his nose. "What did you do to him!?"

Bryan tried to stifle his laughter as Rafiki himself was keeling over in laughter, the mandrill's boisterous cackles resonating off the cave walls. Amidst the desperate wiping, Simba too began to chuckle lightly, calming both Nala and Kion.

"It's okay," Simba chuckled. "It's just a really, really potent scent."

The king coughed several more times, his eyes watering both from laughter and the lingering smell of sweat. Bryan felt relieved that Simba wasn't insulted that the young reporter had not warned him earlier.

While the laughter proceeded to die down, Rafiki had plucked one of the gourds tied to his walking stick and poured out its contents, a fine red powder. The mandrill continued to chuckle to himself as he rubbed the powder against his hands several times before slamming them both down on Bryan's ankle, grasping the swollen area in his hands.

A slew of curses flew from Bryan's mouth as he jerked back from the impact, a sharp wave of pain crashing through his body. It was the loudest he had spoken while around Simba and the others, and came as quite a shock to the lions. Many of the words were lost to them, as the volley at which they were fired out mixed into a cacophony of obscenities.

Both Simba and Nala were taken aback by the sudden display, while Kion couldn't help but reveal a sly smile.

"What the hell was that for you bastard?!" Bryan exclaimed loudly towards the end of his rant, the pain from the swollen muscles still arching their way through his body.

"Calm yourself, Rafiki was only applying the medicine in the correct manner," the mandrill replied as he slowly kneaded the swollen flesh, rubbing the red powder over the afflicted area. "The medicine must be forcefully applied to the flesh, and rubbed in so that the pain and swelling will cease. At least that's how it works for lions!"

The mandrill finished the statement with the same psychotic laugh he had the night before.

"That's – not – very – comforting," Bryan sneered through clenched teeth as each squeeze and rub from the mandrill's hands provided more discomfort.

"Rafiki knows what he's doing Bryan," Simba said comfortingly, wiping the last bit of tears from his eye, the smell of Bryan's boot still lingering. "He's been serving our Pride for more years than I can remember."

"All the way back to the Great King Ahadi," Rafiki mused, his voice trailing off as if recalling memories long past.

Rafiki dusted off his hands, releasing his grip on Bryan's swollen ankle. The young reporter immediately noticed a change in its condition. The swelling had reduced tremendously, returning the ankle to its normal appearance and coloration. In fact, the ankle felt better than new, as if years of joint wear and tear had been purged from the bones. Bryan moved his foot around, finding no pain or discomfort.

"It healed that quickly?" Bryan stated, in awe at how quickly the medicine had worked.

Upon noticing how quickly Bryan had healed, Kion glanced over at his own wounded shoulder and let out a sigh, slumping back over onto his sigh. The only thing the prince could do was sleep, and if it meant getting to avoid the human, he was more than happy to oblige.

Nala noticed her son's contempt, and moved over to lay down next to the prince. She nuzzled him affectionately as he let out another sigh.

"You shall be healed in no time Kion," Nala purred.

"And don't worry about the Guard," Simba said as well. "I shall make sure Gozi and Mavu treat it well."

"Sure dad, you're a real help," Kion scoffed, just barely audible as he drifted off into a light sleep.

Bryan watched the exchange between the three lions, the same twinge of guilt slowly washing over him as he watched the mighty prince recover from his own wound. But with the guilt came the young reporters own sense of pride. He was only defending himself when he had shot Kion, and from the way he saw it, he was not in the wrong for doing so. The entire situation he had wound up in was far from the norm for a human, and he had only reacted in a natural manner.

With his own sigh, Bryan sat up from the raised platform, able to stand on two feet soundly once more. He pulled his sock back over the once swollen ankle and made his way across the cave, picking up the discarded boot. The stench from the boot oozed out of it's opening. Its smell wafted against the young reporter's nose, eliciting a small gag.

 _Oh god, that is awful,_ Bryan thought, sympathizing with Kopa and Simba's previous reactions to the smelly footwear.

He pulled the boot back over his sock, giving its laces a loose knot before walking back over to rejoin Simba and the others.

"If young Bryan and Prince Kopa are now taken care of, does the king require anything more from Rafiki?" the mandrill asked with a bow.

"No, thank you Rafiki. I don't know what we'd do without you," Simba said as he sat up, wrapping a forelimb around the mandrill in a hug.

Rafiki gave Simba several pats on the back before turning to head out of the cave, his staff clanking on the stone floor with each step he took. The sound of flapping wings slowly entered into the cave as Zazu landed just in front of Simba, taking no notice of Bryan as he bowed.

"The leaders of the herds have been gathered at the watering hole, as requested sire," the blue hornbill stated. "Though I am still unsure why – GOODNESS ME!"

Zazu jumped into the air upon noticing Bryan, who stood awkwardly a few feet away from where Simba, Nala, and Kion now sat. He flew over onto Simba's shoulder, his feathers ruffled from being startled.

"A creature that walks on two legs… and I thought I had seen everything," Zazu stated, eyeing the young reporter up and down.

"Zazu, this is Bryan Anderson, a human from beyond the Pride Lands," Simba said, motioning to Bryan who returned a wave. "Bryan, Zazu here was my father's majordomo and serves as mine as well. I shall explain everything concerning his appearance in the Pride Lands at our meeting with the herd leaders. Just know for now that he is neither a guest, nor a prisoner at the moment."

Zazu gulped audibly, always fearful of the stranger creatures of the lands.

"I trust your judgement, sire," the blue hornbill replied, relaxing ever so slightly.

With a nod of approval, Simba turned back towards Bryan.

"Bryan, I'd like you to join me at this meeting. It would help to put the herd leaders at ease to make your acquaintance," Simba stated, the same kingly tone he had used with Kion present in his voice. "Of course, if you do not feel up to it, you can always remain at Pride Rock."

Bryan immediately perked up, the opportunity to finally get out of the caves of Pride Rock exciting him greatly.

"Of course," he exclaimed within seconds of Simba finishing. "Anything to start gaining the trust of you and your subjects. Could I really quickly grab a few things before we leave?"

Simba nodded in approval, prompting Bryan to jump with excitement and make his way out of the cave, a new spring in his step. Once the young reporter had rounded the corner, Simba felt relieved, taking a moment to approach Nala and give her an affectionate lick on her face.

"Be safe Simba," Nala said, the subtle tone of worriedness present in her voice as she nuzzled her mate.

"Don't worry, when have I ever not been safe?" Simba replied with a sly smile before nuzzling Nala one last time.

Nala chuckled lightly as she watched Simba and Zazu make their way out of the den, her brow furrowing with worry as Simba rounded the corner, stepping out of site.

* * *

 **Frequent updates are fun aren't they?**

 **Back at it with another chapter! I apologize if the pace seems a bit slow, but I've always found the slow build up to lead to the most satisfying story. Granted, it can get a bit tedious to write now and then, but it only makes the action packed segments all the more sweeter.**

 **Speaking of action, expect it to only ramp up from here as Bryan begins to become acquainted with the Pride Lands. How well will the human mesh with the delicate order of things known as the Circle of Life? Only time will tell!**

 **Thanks again for reading!**

 **~Jackson M. W.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter XII

The light wind of the savannah caressed Bryan as he walked along side Simba and Zazu through the lush grasslands that surrounded Pride Rock. Rafiki's medicine had provided an immediate relief to Bryan's sprained ankle, allowing the young reporter to finally walk normally and keep a steady pace with Simba.

Few words were spoken between the group as they made their way westward towards one of the larger watering holes in the area. Bryan had opted to ditch the light down jacket he had been carrying with him for a simple muscle shirt, giving the human a greater sense of freedom in movement. On his back, he carried the bag containing all his camera equipment, from spare lenses to the collapsible tripod. He kept a tight grip on his camera, which hung from its sling around his neck, stopping every couple of minutes to take a picture of the surrounding landscape.

Simba was more than perplexed at the young reporter's actions, stopping momentarily every time Bryan stopped to observe his actions. The clicks from the camera caught his attention every time, his ears perking up in its direction each time Bryan took a picture.

"What exactly is that you're doing?" Simba finally asked at about the tenth-time Bryan had stopped in his tracks to hold the unfamiliar object up to his eyes. Zazu landed on Simba's shoulder, confused as well as to what Bryan was doing.

Bryan lowered the camera after snapping several photos of a nearby group of gazelle.

"It just dawned on me that taking pictures is an entirely foreign concept for you guys," Bryan said with a chuckle.

"'Taking pictures'," Zazu repeated. "What an odd phrase."

Bryan thought for a moment on how best to explain what "taking a picture" was, but found himself at a loss for words on how to explain the concept.

"You know, it'd be easier to show you two," Bryan smiled, removing his camera bag and setting it on the ground

He unzipped one of the front zippers and pulled out an instant picture polaroid camera. Bryan had made a habit of carrying around a polaroid early on in his journalistic career, often using it to produce an instant piece of memorabilia that he would later add to one of his many personal scrapbooks.

"Alright, just stand right where you are and smile," Bryan said as he quickly adjusted the lenses of the camera before aiming it at Simba and Zazu.

Still completely confused, Simba and Zazu both followed Bryan's instructions and smiled. With a click of a button, Bryan snapped a photo of the two, the whirring of the camera echoing across the landscape as it printed out the photo. Bryan snatched the printed polaroid from the camera, shaking it in his hand to develop the picture as walked over to Simba and Zazu.

"Basically, the device I just used is called a 'camera'. It captures an image of the visible light and prints it onto a special piece of paper that develops the captured image into one that we can see as clear as day," Bryan said as he continued to shake the polaroid, waiting until he saw the full image come into view.

When the picture was fully developed, he turned it around so Simba and Zazu could see.

"T-that's me," Simba exclaimed, looking the small photograph up and down as Zazu sat on his shoulder, mouth agape in astonishment. "It's like looking at your reflection, but it doesn't move! Bryan, did you make this 'camera' device?"

"Oh no, I didn't. There's other humans who make the camera, I just buy them and use them to take pictures," Bryan replied, still holding the picture for Simba and Zazu.

"You humans must be quite clever to devise such contraptions," Zazu stated as he got a better look at the photograph. "But we'd best keep moving sire. You know how Makuu gets when he's kept waiting."

"You said we were going to meet with the 'leaders of the herds' right?" Bryan asked as he walked back over to his camera bag and picked it up, placing the polaroid camera and photo in the bag, and rejoined Simba. "Do you really have an entire governing structure set up?"

"I suppose you could call it that, yes," Simba replied as they continued towards the watering hole. "To better facilitate the disputes between animals and keep the Circle of Life in balance, my grandfather, King Ahadi, established the Herd Leaders to serve as representatives of each animal in the Pride Lands. It allowed the issues with each animal herd to be brought together in one easy to manage system."

As Simba spoke, Bryan had pulled out a leather-bound journal he had brought with him and began to jot down notes.

"But how does it all work? I mean, you're a lion. Lion's eat basically every animal on the savannah. How can you govern efficiently if you and your Pride eat your subjects?" Bryan inquired. "And what's the Circle of Life anyways?"

"My father, King Mufasa, described the Circle of Life as 'a delicate balance' that the king must maintain for there to be peace in our lands," Simba explained. "It binds us all together, and gives us purpose in our lives. We all do our best to respect and care for it, as we are all affected by it. So yes, we do eat the other animals, but not only do we hunt just what we need, but when we die, our bodies in turn become the grass, and thus the zebras, antelope, and other creatures eat the grass."

Simba continued, captivating Bryan with his lecture on the Circle of Life. He was continuously astonished at the philosophical nature of this belief, and truly surprised that animals could think this way. Simba and the others displayed not only near human intelligence, but a capacity for compassion, thought, and reason that many humans lacked in their modern age. The young reporters hand was moving a lightning speed, scribbling notes on page after page as Simba continued to speak, outlining the guidelines his Pride adhered to in regards to hunting, such as only targeting the older animals, not the young, and the banishment of the hyenas due to their corrosive nature towards the Circle of Life.

"Ah good," Simba said, cutting himself off mid-lecture. "We're here."

Bryan looked up from his note taking, gazing out at the large watering hole. A grouping of baobob trees lined the banks of the watering hole, providing a natural source of shade for the visiting animals. An astonishingly wide variety of animals were gathered at the watering hole, ranging from colorful flamingos wading the shallow areas, to massive rhinoceros's drinking their fill of the crystal-clear water. A river flowed into the watering hole from the north and emptied into another river that traveled off towards the east, in the direction of Pride Rock.

The young reporter's camera was alight with the flickering of the shutter as Bryan snapped photo after photo, catching every angle of the magnificent display of nature before him. Simba had begun to walk around the eastern side of the watering hole, Bryan following close behind as he continued to take pictures. They were headed off towards a grouping of large, stone spires that sat at the northern end of the watering hole.

"Would you like me to fly ahead to announce your arrival, sire?" Zazu asked from Simba's shoulder as the king continued towards the stone grouping.

"Yes Zazu, I'll be over there in just a moment," Simba replied with a nod.

The blue hornbill bowed in reply and took off into the air towards their destination. Simba, on the other hand, stayed back with Bryan, who was still busy taking pictures and had moved closer to the bank. Most of the animals were too preoccupied to notice the lone human standing on the edge of the cool, clear water, but those that had noticed were quick to inform their peers of the "strange creature" over on the side of the watering hole. As Bryan continued to take pictures, more of the animals around the watering hole began to take notice of him, bringing about a low collection of chatter among the animals.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Simba approached Bryan from behind and grasped the back of his shirt with his teeth, yanking the human back behind the cover of one of the baobob trees that lined the bank of the watering hole.

Bryan yelped in surprise as he tried to keep balance with Simba's forceful tugging, his shirt nearly ripping as Simba dragged him behind the tree.

"Watch the shirt," Bryan cried.

Ignoring Bryan's protests, Simba did let go of Bryan's shirt, but placed his forepaw on the top of Bryan's head and turned it towards him, bringing the young human face to face with himself.

"Perhaps I forgot to mention this Bryan, but as of right now, no other animal within the Pridelands knows you are here," Simba said in a hushed, hissing tone. "So, until we inform the herd leaders, who will in turn inform their herds, just act… natural."

"Don't cause a scene, got it," Bryan replied, nodding in compliance.

The king released his grip on Bryan's shoulder and gave the human a kingly smile.

"Excellent," he replied as he turned to continue towards the meeting grounds.

Bryan continued to follow, respecting Simba's wishes to "not cause a scene". Such a desire from the king did not stop the young reporter from sneaking a few pictures as they walked.

"Oh, and one last thing," Simba spoke up as they came upon a large sandstone archway. "Some of the herd leaders can be a tad… eccentric."

Simba turned away from Bryan with another smile that shifted into a worrisome look. The king let out a sigh before walking through the archway. Bryan followed Simba through the archway, the two of them walking into a large clearing along the bank of the watering hole. A large series of rock formations bordered the clearing, stretching around the sandy ground in a half circle. It was a well secluded area amongst the hustle and bustle of the watering hole, the only real entrances being the archway and a small incline that lead into the crystal clear blue waters.

Zazu, noticing the kings entrance, cleared his throat.

"Ahem! His Royal Highness, King of all that the light touches, Simba," the blue hornbill bellowed with a bow.

With their heads turning to face Simba, the several other occupants of the meeting grounds bowed in response. Several seconds passed before the other animals stood at ease, upon which Simba made his way to the center of the enclosed area, leaving Bryan standing in the archway alone.

"Thank you all for meeting me on such short notice," Simba stated, standing tall amongst the herd leaders, who were beginning to take notice of Bryan. "As you can already tell, these are some… extraordinary times for the Pride Lands. I won't beat around the bush any longer. Yes, the rumors are true. A previously unencountered creature entered the Pride Lands yesterday and injured my second born cub, Prince Kion."

The group of eight animals became alight with activity.

"Is the Prince all right, my king?" a large hippopotamus asked as he sat up from the ground in a hurry.

"That ugly creature behind you is the 'unencountered' animal? How could he hurt the almighty Prince. I could probably snap him in too," a very large male crocodile exclaimed as he floated along the edge of the bank.

"I've never seen anything like it, but he sure is hideous," a male zebra stated nervously, obviously unsettled.

"That's what 'unencountered' means you dimwit, so of course you wouldn't have seen anything like it" a female gazelle sneered.

"I dunno, it's kind of cute… in a helpless, squishy baby animal kind of way," said a large female elephant.

"Must be awfully cold without any sort of fur. It's so pink too," a female zebra remarked, nearly as unsettled as the male zebra.

"Either way, it doesn't look so tough," a male sable antelope exclaimed.

"I think everyone should just calm down and let it speak," the final animal, a large female cape buffalo, stated.

"Quiet!" Simba roared, putting all the idle chatter to a halt as the herd leaders shut their mouths immediately.

Simba let the animals settle before continuing.

"Your concern for my son is appreciated Basi. And yes, Prince Kion will make a full recovery. The creature in question, who has accompanied Zazu and I, is known as Bryan Anderson, a human."

"So why is this 'human' still alive?" the large crocodile sneered, turning his yellow eyed gaze upon Bryan, who had perked up when Simba made mention of him. "Not going soft are you Simba? If it was any of my fleet members he had injured, I don't think we would be having this conversation."

A few of the other herd leaders nodded in agreement at the crocodile's statement, while the rest shook their heads.

Simba sighed loudly.

"I'll be frank Makuu, I don't have the patience right now to listen to your boasting. The human's – Bryan's case is a special. He is an outsider, a stranger to our lands. It was my decision to meet his violence, which we now understand as self-defense, not with more violence, but kindness and understanding."

Makuu, the large crocodile and leader of the resident herd of crocodiles within the Pride Lands known as "The Fleet" scoffed once more.

"It sounds to me you'll be letting this human, who has proven himself to be dangerous, live here in the Pride Lands indefinitely!" Makuu laughed. "I'm sure the other illustrious leaders here today would say that this is not a smart idea."

"Are you questioning a ruling from our king Makuu?" Basi, the large hippopotamus asked plainly, tired of the constant interruptions by the cocky crocodile.

Makuu gave out a boisterous laugh.

"Don't get your whiskers in a twist Basi! It's our duties as herd leaders to make sure Simba is doing his job right," the crocodile chuckled. "I can already tell Muhimu, Thurston, and Bupu agree. And Swala too, isn't that right sugar?"

Swala, the large, sturdy antelope gagged audibly, stamping her hooves several times as she shook her head.

"If you ever call me 'sugar' again Makuu, I'll shove these horns so far up your as" –

"Oh, dear me. Ahem, er, what Swala was trying to say, I think, is that she agrees with Makuu, despite his choice of language," Muhimu, the female zebra spoke up, a skittish and nervous tone piercing her voice.

"As do I!" Stamped the male Zebra, Thurston, with a triumphant posture. "Besides, the way he's just sitting there watching us is making me kind of nervous."

Overall, Bryan had not really been paying that much attention. He was much more focused on framing out the perfect panorama of this area, placing much of his attention of the natural lighting of the area and some possible vantage points rather than listen to this idle bickering. He only snapped back into the moment when he noticed their idle chatter had ceased, being replaced by an uncomfortable silence as every animal's eyes, including Simba's, were focused on him, as if he was supposed to say something.

"Hmm?" he said, sitting up from the rock he had perched himself on. "Sorry, I was thinking about….er doesn't really matter. Kind of tuned out all the bickering."

 _Shit!_ He thought as he spoke what amounted to nonsense. _Way to make a stunning first impression. Some lovely bit of insight and wisdom to lighten the mood._

"Anyways," Simba stated, turning back around to face the Herd Leaders. "Your concern is well founded, and do know my decision to keep Bryan within the Pridelands rather than exiling him, or worse, did not come lightly. I hope it will put your minds at ease to know that until further notice, you will not see him without a member of the Lion Guard or myself close by. And if you do happen to see him, alone without any member of my Pride, report it immediately."

In what seemed like power play, Simba put some extra kingly emphasis on the last bit, going so far as to turn his gaze back to Bryan, his brow furrowing and eyes narrowing on the human. He was making it very clear to the young reporter that he was indeed in charge, and will make sure his law his followed.

"Well, I suppose it's your right as our glorious king to make these kinds of decisions," Makuu sighed, stretching his stubby crocodile arms as he continued to drift idly around the bank. "But if I catch him anywhere near my territory… don't be surprised if he ends up missing."

With some insidious emphasis on that last bit, and a piercing glare at Bryan, Makuu simply swam off, submerging himself under the crystal-clear water. The other herd leaders, namely Muhimu, Thurston, Bupu, and Swala, looked around, clearing their throats several times, unsure if it would be proper for them to leave.

Simba let out a sigh before speaking again.

"I suppose that concludes this meeting. I will reconvene with each of you in a few days to resume our normal business."

The remaining herd leaders gave Simba a bow once he concluded the meeting. Muhimu, Thurston, Bupu, and Swala, upon concluding the courteous bow, huddled together and made their way out of the meeting area, eyeing Bryan as they spoke in hushed tones. Bryan merely gave them a courteous, almost shit eating grin as they passed out of sight.

"Bryan Anderson. An interesting name for an interesting animal," the booming voice of Basi the hippo said as he approached Bryan from behind.

The young reporter jumped slightly, his back turned to the large hippopotamus.

"Sorry there, did not mean to frighten you," Basi laughed. "I'm Basi, if you hadn't already gathered that. I'd like to apologize for Makuu's behavior. I'd say he can be a bit nicer if you get to know him, but I'd be lying through my tusks!"

Bryan gave a nervous laugh in reply, still quite uncomfortable with the whole animal talking business. The hippo is, after all, the most dangerous animal in Africa, and having an idle conversation about the bad manners of a crocodile feels very unnatural.

"If you were going to apologize for Makuu's behavior, Basi, you'd be doing so all day long," laughed the female cape buffalo as she approached the two.

Basi let out another hearty laugh.

"You've got a good point there, Vuurga my dear."

As Bryan sat there giving another awkward laugh, he felt a slight tug on his shirt's sleeve. He looked to see what was the source, and saw the large trunk of the female elephant tugging at his sleeve, pulling it up and down.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said with a smile. "Was just getting a look at your fur. It's so varied and colorful!"

"Careful their Ma, I think you're making him uncomfortable," Basi said, taking notice of Bryan's general awkwardness in this situation.

"Oh no, it's fine," Bryan spoke up, pushing some of his confidence up to the surface. "Animals don't normally talk where I come from, so having this idle chat is groundbreaking territory for me."

"So, he does speak!" Basi laughed. "Sorry if I did make you nervous. Us hippos can be a bit imposing."

"It's fine Basi," Bryan reiterated. "I'm the outsider here, so no need to go tip toeing around me like everything you might say or do will put me off."

"Well that's a relief," Vuurga, the female water buffalo exclaimed. "Far too many animals around that are full of themselves. I'd like to chat more with you human, but I need to get back to my herd. No need to worry about 'going missing' in my territory, you'll be welcome anytime!"

"Same from me," Ma, the large female elephant stated triumphantly as she followed behind Vuurga.

Bryan watched as they left, breathing a slight sigh of relief. He half expected them to pelt him with a million questions about "who he is" and "where he came from". It eased his anxiousness greatly to know they didn't really care that much, or at least pretended to not to.

"I will need to take my leave as well," Basi stated. "Plenty of work to be done on the new hippo lanes and such. Please do stop by our territory Bryan, I'd love to chat more once you are a bit more accustomed to living here."

Before waddling off, Basi gave Simba a bow, to which the lion king gave a nod. He then approached Bryan, standing off to his side as they both looked out at the watering hole.

"That went better than I thought," Simba said, the kingly tone and demeanor completely absent from his voice.

Bryan rose a brow.

"I suppose so. I didn't end up getting trampled, skewered, or torn to shreads. Though I get the feeling that Makuu, Thurston, Swala, Bupu, and… Muhimu don't like me."

"Wow, you actually got all their names right," Simba smiled, impressed. "I'm happy you are showing as much interest as you are in my kingdom. I wouldn't worry too much about the others. Do take care around Makuu, he might sound like he's just all talk, but he can be quite vicious."

Bryan simply nodded in reply, the casual nature of Simba catching him somewhat off guard, again. Not mere moments ago, Simba was indirectly threatening him with secret police and harsh actions in front of the herd leaders, and now here he was acting all buddy buddy with the young reporter. Calling it mixed signals would be an understatement.

"Come along then Zazu, Bryan. Let's go check-up on the Lion Guard," Simba said with another sigh, moving away from Bryan's side and making his way out of the meeting circle.

Before following behind the king, Bryan lifted his camera and took a quick few snapshots of the watering hole.


End file.
